TACLOBAN CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) turned over a Php39 million Steel-hulled Purse Fishing Vessel to the Northern Samar Pacific Towns Fishermen's Cooperative (NSPTFC) in Mapanas, Northern Samar.
The donation was made possible through the Capacitating Municipal Fisherfolk Program, which aims to provide municipal fisherfolk with bigger and better-equipped fishing boats.
The event was attended by the LGUs of Mapanas, Palapag, Lapinig, Laoang, and Gamay, as well as BFAR 8 Regional Director Dr. Hannibal M. Chavez. The NSPTFC comprises 15 members who will use the state-of-the-art vessel to fish more efficiently and contribute significantly to the region and the country's annual tuna production.
Northern Samar has almost 1,000 tuna fishers who mostly rely on traditional fishing methods to catch tuna within the Pacific Ocean. The BFAR foresees at least a 5.4% or 180-200 MT increase in tuna production in Northern Samar, given the state-of-the-art vessel, which can store 5,000 kilograms of fish catch.
In 2022, the province contributed 13% of the region's total fisheries production and recorded the second-highest yield of tuna production in the region. The Pacific towns of the province and several municipalities in Eastern Samar are within the Tuna Conservation Management Zone, which is rich in pelagic fish such as tuna species.
However, municipal fisherfolks within these areas experience a challenge in maximizing their daily fish catch because of the limited capacity and efficiency of their small fishing boats and other traditional equipment.
The LGU Mapanas Mayor Ronn Michael Tejano expressed high hopes for the project as it opens a new and promising opportunity to boost the tuna industry of the Northern Samar Pacific Towns. He encourages beneficiaries to embody the essence of sharing and camaraderie for the sustainability of the intervention granted to them.
The BFAR and LGUs of Mapanas, Palapag, Lapinig, Laoang, and Gamay made a pact to support the NSPTFC in their future fishing operations through capacity-building initiatives, operation and management mentorship, overall programmatic functions, periodic monitoring and evaluation, and other measures necessary for the effective, sustainable and efficient implementation of this program initially launched in Eastern Visayas.
The activity was formally concluded with a communal blessing from various religious sectors in the locality to ensure the crew's safety and a bountiful harvest while fishing within the Pacific Ocean and other major fishing grounds in the country where it is allowed to conduct its operation.
The NSPTFC is set to conduct its first fishing activity in April 2023 beyond their municipal waters, where units of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) from the Bureau have been previously installed. —iTacloban (Source: BFAR-8)