Biyaheng Bukid Day 9 SQUANDERED AQUA POTENTIALS; LAMENTATIONS OF A FISHERMAN

By Manny Piñol

The Biyaheng Bukid team crossed the channel between the islands of Mindoro and Panay Friday afternoon and arrived in Aklan early evening.

Simple dinner of “talaba,” “sugpo” and bangus was served in the home of former Aklan Governor Lito Marquez who is now the Congressman-elect of the province.

Along with my relative, lawyer Emmanuel Sodusta who won as board member, Marquez brought us to Tinagong Dagat in New Washington Saturday morning to get a first hand information on the state of the aquaculture industry.

There I met Bert Buyoc and his wife, Marlyn, who own a considerably large fishpond area but who complain about the neglect by government of the small fishermen and the stakeholders in the aquaculture industry.

Bert’s fishponds produce Bangus and white shrimps and he grows these the traditional way.

“Tinamaan kami ng mga bagyo noon pero nakaya namin. Pero noong tamaan kami ng Yolanda, talagang napaluhod kami,” Bert told me adding that there was no help from the government for the aquaculture industry to recover.

Bert says that country is missing a lot of opportunities by virtually ignoring the industry.

“We cannot even get a loan from the banks using our fishponds as collaterals because these areas are just leased from the government,” Bert said.

He said that one of the most exciting opportunities now in the aquaculture industry is the production of White Shrimps which sells for as much as P350 per kilo.

Bert owns the only White Shrimps hatchery in New Washington town and hopes to expand this to cater to the demands of the other areas.

He said that to enliven the aquaculture industry not only in Aklan but in other parts of the country, the government should make use of the SEAFDEC or the Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Centre in Iloilo.

Financing for small stakeholders in the aquaculture industry and cold storage and blast freezing facilities are also needed.

Of course, government’s assistance in the marketing and distribution of the aquaculture products would be the icing on the cake for the stakeholders.

With President-elect Rody Duterte’s promise of reaching out to the poorest of the poor and the neglected sectors of the society, Change is coming for the small stakeholders in the aquaculture industry.

I promised Bert that I will come back as soon as I have assumed office on July 1 to sit down with the stakeholders and draw a road map for the development of the aquaculture industry.

(Photos show Bert’s fishponds which we reached after a pump boat ride, his white shrimp hatchery and a talaba vendor along the highway in New Washington. Photo also shows a heap of talaba shells just thrown away instead of being used in making animal feeds. Lost opportunities.. Photos by John Pagaduan and Bong Piñol.)