SURIGAO DEL SUR, August 16, 2021- The Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources provided interventions to an Indigenous People (IP) group and conducted training for fisherfolk associations in support of tilapia and lobster culture in Surigao del Sur.

The BFAR Provincial Fisheries Office (PFO) of Surigao del Sur conducted the activities to implement SAAD’s FY 2021 Tilapia Culture in Pond and Lobster Culture in Submerged Cage projects.

SAAD BFAR supports IPs in Lanuza

Ibuan Fisherfolk Association (IFA), an IP organization, received 2,500 pieces of get-excel tilapia fingerlings from BFAR Caraga-Kitcharao Technology Outreach Station (KTOS) on July 21.

The tilapia fingerlings were released in two units of freshwater earthen ponds with 10 meters (m) x 23m dimension each. They also received two bags of tilapia fry mash, three bags of starter crumble, 22 bags of tilapia grower feeds, and 17 bags of tilapia finisher feeds.

In total, BFAR SAAD Caraga provided Php 47,702.77 worth of interventions for the project.

The Ibuan FA (22 members) is located at Sitio Ibuan, Barangay Mampi which is a priority barangay of National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)-EO70 in Lanuza, Surigao del Sur.

The identification of SAAD beneficiaries and implementation of the SAAD project was collaborated with and supported by the municipal local government unit (MLGU) of Lanuza, provincial LGU, and partner agencies in Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) Surigao del Sur.

Fishers trained on Lobster Culture Production in Lingig

From July 15 to 16, two fisherfolk groups were introduced to High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Plastic in a submersible cage which is a more advanced technology compared to their traditional method of raising lobsters.

The Sabang Tiger Lobster Grower Association (30 members) from barangay Sabang and Cab-ilan FA (20 members) from barangay Poblacion in Lingig were recipients of the Php 300,000 worth Lobster Culture in Submerged Cage Project. The interventions delivered were composed of one 10m × 10m x 3m HDPE cages, 300 lobster juveniles, and 667 trash fish per group.

The trained beneficiaries were grateful to the program for the project as it is their first livelihood intervention received from the government.

Tilapia Culture in Pond training held in Tago   

A two-day training on Tilapia Culture in Pond was conducted from July 22 to 23 to help growers to learn more techniques on operation and management of the said fish.

The activity was participated by Catmon Tilapia Growers Association (20 members) and Cayale Mabua Fisherfolk Association (20 members) in barangay Cayale and facilitated in coordination with the Tago MLGU.

The full package of the project worth Php 45,793.50 per unit includes 2,500 fingerlings and 44 bags of feeds good for 20m x 25m fishpond area. ###

Source/ Writer: BFAR RFO Surigao del Sur