Nasipit, Agusan del Norte – This coastal town of Agusan del Norte known in the past as a logging seaport and plywood processing area at the height of logging operations in Northern Mindanao has discovered a new income earning industry – Bangus Fish Cage Farming.
On Thursday, during my 2-day sortie in the two Agusan Provinces, I visited Nasipit and saw the potentials of fish cage farming in the placid Butuan Bay.
It was Agusan del Norte Governor Dale Corvera who suggested that the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) consider Nasipit as one of the sites of the proposed “Fish Centers” of the Mindanao Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Program. (MINFAD).
MINFAD is one of the programs designed by MinDA to address poverty, increase productivity, sustain the gains of peace and trigger Mindanao’s Economic Recovery.
The MINFAD Program calls for the establishment of “Fish Centers” which will be eqjuipped with post-harvest facilities like ice-makers, blast freezers, cold storage and processing facilities.
A total of 22 sites, including Tawitawi, Sulu and Basilan, has been identified as “Fish Centers” which will be inter-connected through a Digital Platform which will keep track of the daily catch and identify the market destinations.
In my travels all over the country as Agriculture Secretary and now as Chairman of the MinDA, I saw the absence of processing facilities as the major obstacle in adding value to the catch of the country’s fishermen.
The objective of the “Fish Centers” is to make sure that what comes out of the fishing grounds would already be properly processed and packed prorducts ready for the market.
Nasipit Mayor Enrico Corvera, cousin of the Governor, said the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has constructed a huge building in Nasipit under the Philippine Cold Chain Program which could be used as a processing site of the Bangus harvested from the fish cages in Agusan Bay.
This is expected to increase the value of the Bangus produced from the Bay while at the same time offer job opportunities to the local people.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#CheckPatientForRightCure!
(This video presentation is a production of the Beauty & Bounty of Mindanao Media Team for the Mindanao Develooment Authority.)
https://fb.watch/aMr7WsLKJf/
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