BFAR revives biggest fish caging area in Cagayan

TO revive the once vibrant fish cage industry in Cagayan Valley (Region 2), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is putting focus on the biggest aquaculture operation in the region as one of its priorities.

In 2012, BFAR-Region 2, in collaboration with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Aboitiz Power, established the Magat Aquapark Project (MAP) at the Magat Dam and Reservoir in Ramon town in Isabela province.

The MAP project started with 11 fisherfolk associations who were recipients of 21 fish cage modules for their livelihood project, which also served as a show window on proper technologies for aquaculture.

Each module consisted of four cages measuring 6 x 12 x 5 meters with a stocking rate at 12 pieces fingerlings per square meter. The BFAR said the aquacuture project helped bring to the forefront the advantages of cage operations.

In 2015, Johny Buyawen, a fish farmer who chairs the Magat Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council, started with six units. Today, he has 16 units that produce an average income of P80,000 from four units per harvest.

The Magat Dam and Reservoir used to be Cagayan Valley’s single biggest area for aquaculture operations, particularly from early to mid 2000 with fish cage operators harvesting daily an average of 35 metric tons ( MT) of tilapia.

Buyawen said fish farming was so lucrative then that fish cage operators numbered about 12,638 at its peak, but gradually, locators closed shop and plunged to as low as 200 people in 2013.

“But from its lowest in 2013, operators continue to grow in number and now we have more than 400,” Albert Corpuz, NIA aquaculturist, said.