PhilippineInformationAgency reports that the stakeholders committed their full support during a forum last week conducted by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) and the BFAR-regional office.
BFAR Regional Director Nestor Domenden presented the status of the bangus industry and the needed technological packages to ward off threats to the province’s signature business enterprise.
A fishkill during the summer months hit western coastal towns Anda and Bolinao resulting in huge market losses and adversely affected bangus growers from other parts of the province to include Dagupan and Alaminos cities and the towns of Mangaldan and Binmaley.
Owing to the fishkill experience, Mr Domenden said there is a need to adopt a systematic strategy even as he urged stakeholders to “harmonise their efforts and husband their resources to win back market patronage of Pangasinan bangus.”
Some of the problems he presented has to do with what he called “syndicated pricing” even before the fishkill, lack of unity among stakeholders, and mismatch of production trend as against the demands of consumers.
OPAG officer-in-charge Dolly Moya said that the provincial government under the leadership of Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. is keen on implementing doable actions to help save the industry. With bangus as a major cash crop, Pangasinan is considered as the region’s “food basket,” she noted.
Immediately after the fishkill, the governor spearheaded a series of consultation-dialogues with stakeholders from the affected coastal towns for the adoption of measures to prevent another fishkill, she said.
Bangus Growers Unite To Save Industry
PHILIPPINES - Major aquaculture stakeholders from the Pangasinan province vowed to work closely with the provincial government and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in formulating a comprehensive plan that will strengthen the bangus industry which suffered a setback as a result of the fishkill in May.
