By Manny Piñol
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an agency under the Department of Agriculture, will turn over to Lake Lanao fisher folks today 200 Philippine-made fiberglass fishing boats as part of its contribution to the rehabilitation and recovery program for Marawi City and Lanao del Sur.
The first 200,000 Tilapia fingerlings of the total 5-M earmarked for Lake Lanao will also be seeded today with the remaining 4.8-M fingerlings which would include Bangus to be dropped in the 35,000-hectare lake by 2018.
BFAR National Director, Undersecretary Eduardo Gongona, will formally turn over the fishing boats to the beneficiaries in the presence of President Rody Duterte today.
A bagful of fingerlings will also be turned over to the fisher folks in symbolic ceremony while another group of BFAR personnel will make the actual seeding of the 200,000 fingerlings in Lake Lanao.
The fiberglass fishing boats which come complete with fishing paraphernalia and 18-horsepower engines are part of the FB Pagbabago fiberglass fishing boats distribution program of the DA BFAR.
Over 5,000 fiberglass fishing boats, which are built by the beneficiaries themselves with the help of DA BFAR technicians, have been distributed to poor fishing families all over the country since the start of the Duterte Presidency.
The fingerlings dispersal, on the other hand, is part of the Project BASIL or Balik Sigla sa Ilog at Lawa, a program of the DA BFAR which aims to repopulate the country’s lakes, rivers and creeks with indigenous and non-invasive fish species.
Project BASIL was launched in Laguna de Bay on June 19 with the seeding of Tilapia, Bangus, ayungin, salad and biya fingerlings and also young freshwater shrimps or “lang.”
Project BASIL aims to provide inland fishermen access to fresh water fish for their food supply and livelihood as well.
(Photos of President Rody Duterte and the fiberglass fishing boats given to Badjao fishermen were taken in Lamitan, Basilan October last year to mark his first 100 days in office.)`
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