Philippine Bangus Industry Gets Room to Grow

George G. Campeon, regional director of the Fisheries agency, said in an interview late last week that about 100 hectares of the planned park will be devoted to bangus production. "The area is ideal for bangus-growing since its waves are not big," Mr. Campeon said.

According to BusinessWorldOnline, Richard L. Villacorte, local government administrator, said BFAR and the local government will jointly invest P10 million in three years to develop the area.

The news report says that part of the fund will be used for mooring systems, including ropes to delineate the area since the plan is to divide the park into three parts.

The local government already has a pilot fish cage of bangus in the area which has yielded P895,000 worth of harvest from a P600,000 investment. "We tried first to find out if the area is suitable for a mariculture park," Mr. Villacorte said.

Mr. Villacorte said the first part of the park will be set aside for small fisherfolk and for groups that want to conduct studies. "We want to invest considering that they [fisherfolk] are also our engine of growth," he said, explaining that they will be trained on how to manage fish cages.