GETTING RID OF THE MIDDLEMEN
To provide fisher folk direct access to consumers, the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 relaunched the Bohol Fish Market and TienDA program to temper escalating prices of fish.
Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, in a press conference in Tagbilaran City, Bohol on Saturday, March 2, said the prices of fish dropped because fishermen now directly sell their catch to consumers.
“That’s the weak link we saw in the past. Fishermen are forced to sell their catch to buyers in Cebu, who will then sell it back to Bohol with much higher prices,” he said.
Piñol said that through the agency’s help, fishermen were given direct access to the consumer market that caused them to earn more than what they earned through middlemen.
“The fishermen, who in the past sold their catch to middlemen from whom they borrowed for their fishing expeditions, received financing from the Department of Agriculture through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC),” he said in a Facebook post.
Organized fisher folk also caught more fish compared to the individual way of selling in the market.
“Now, we are seeing market maturity of the system where fishermen are now being organized and they are catching a lot of fish,” he said.
Before, galunggong would retail for P200 per kilo. Piñol said it is now between P90 and P120.
“That was prior to the start of the loaning program,” he said.
The ACPC, in its website, is mandated to “implement strategies and policies that increase and sustain the flow of credit to agriculture and fisheries, improve the viability of farmers and fisher folk, and support agriculture modernization, food security and poverty alleviation.” Piñol said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) also provided fisher folk with fiberglass fishing boats and pledged to give reefer vans that could help in preserving the fishermen’s excess catch.
The DA and BFAR also planned to expand the Bohol Fish Market to Ubay which can also help the fishermen earn more from their catch. /