A milkfish-mudcrab technology livelihood tie-up of the South East Asian Fisheries and Development Center (SEAFDEC) with private companies like Petron has been reaping success from the high adoption of aquaculture techniques in Guimaras, Samar, Misamis Occidental, and Capiz.

A pilot project on milkfish cage culture in Guimaras has resulted in a turnover of technology and fish cage facilities to communities in Guimaras under the Institutional Capacity Development for Sustainable Aquaculture (ICDSA).

SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department Chief Joebert D. Toledo said the Guimaras project resulted from an initiative of Petron Corp. to give an alternative livelihood to fishermen in the island after an oil spill a few years ago where Petron assumed full responsiblity for retribution.

Since then, the milkfish cage culture project trained 150 fishermen from four barangays and turned over one cage each for the four barangays. Under the first phase, fishers harvested 26.3 metric tons (MT) of milkfish valued at P2.6 million part of which, P267,285, also goes to the Fisherfolk Association that organizes the group of fishermen just like a management team.

The second phase produced 2.52 MT valued at P230,000 of which P45,000 went to the farmers' association.

The ICDSA of SEAFDEC-AD in Guimaras has also been co-funded by Citibank as private companies have been witnessing increased productivity of fishers from the capacity building project.

"Our only problem is some agencies here (like the government) think that we're an international organization, so we don't get much support. That's also why we're partnering with state universities and colleges (SUCs) like the UP (University of the Philippines)-Iloilo to intensify our local presence," said Toledo in an interview.

SEAFDEC's project in Misamis Occidental, a grouper cage culture in Panaon and in Sinabacan, has so far trained 60 fishers, the staff of the local government unit (LGU) in the province, and technicians of fishers' cooperative. The project designed the construction of 21 units of fish cages and of the Misamis Occidental Aquamarine Park (MOAP) multi-species hatchery which is now producing grouper fries and fingerlings.

The grouper cage culture project, done in partnership with the Australian Center for International Agricutural Research (ACIAR), has been recording a 32 to 48 percent return on investment (ROI).

In Northern Samar, SEAFDEC's ICDSA project is on mudcrab technology together with ACIAR, non-government units, and the LGU. It has far trained 80 fishermen, teachers, and development workers. It has demonstrated mudcrab nurseries in three sites in mangrove areas and ponds which have had survival rates of up to 83 percent and with ROI of 19 to 198 percent. The mudcrab farm demonstration is also on grow-out and fattening.

In Capiz, the ICDSA project is on brackishwater and freshwater aquaculture that has trained 50 farmers. It demonstrated grouper and mudcrab culture in brackishwater ponds; tilapia cage culture in a river.

"About 50 percent adopted the technology as an alternate livelihood. Other adopters are LGU officials and private investors," the aquaculure center reported.

SEAFDEC has been tapping aquaculture technology for an extensive livelihood program in the countryside even as aquaculture is foreseen to continue taking a large pie in the total fishery production in the country.