World Aquaculture - December 2014

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• WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2014 15
government also increased the budget from US$ 924,000 in 2011
to US$ 6.275 million in 2012 to develop the seaweed industry. This
could help farmers supply more seaweeds to avoid importing from
Indonesia, and eventually retrieve the country’s position as the top
seaweed industry in the world (Dagooc 2012).
Socioeconomic factors. The capacity of fish farmers to run
aquaculture operations sustainably depends on their economic
standing, education and empowerment, inasmuch as these can
provide farmers with access to the latest aquaculture information
and technologies. Access to this information is normally limited
to local elites, who are more capable of acquiring institutional
and natural resources, thus placing poor and unskilled laborers
at a great disadvantage (Bergquist 2007). To address this, the
Philippine government has adopted a shift in its policy program
from aquaculture development to aquaculture for rural development,
a ‘pro-poor’ program that promotes livelihood projects in rural
communities (Lopez 2006). Government and private sectors
also have been conducting a series of workshops and skills
training throughout the country. These aim to educate fishing
communities on the importance of aquaculture resources, impacts
of climate change and adoption of the latest environment-friendly
technologies (SEAFDEC/AQD 2011). For example, the Misamis
Occidental Project has trained fishers on improved grouper cage
culture technology so they can operate cage farms in the province
(SEAFDEC/AQD 2010). Skills training for farm operations is
positively correlated with income, emphasizing how the lack of
proper skills and access to technology remain among the main
constraints to aquaculture development in the country (Nagothu and
Ortiz 2007).
Outlook
The Philippines is endowed with a tropical climate and vast
aquatic resources conducive for aquaculture expansion. However,
it also faces an overarching problem—climate change—parried
only by an equally potent solution through integrated sustainability
programs. While anchored in research and development of new
environment-friendly technologies, government and private sectors
alike must take on the task of bringing these to the industry’s
real major stakeholders, the poor majority. Given a substantial
dependence on aquaculture for food and income, their wide and
active participation would provide for their needs and also sustain
the fast-paced growth of aquaculture in the Philippines.
Notes
Jonni Fay C. Teves, Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health,
Don Eugenio Lopez Sr. Medical Complex, Ortigas Avenue, Pasig
City, Philippines
Janice A. Ragaza*, Department of Biology, School of Science and
Engineering, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University,
Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
*corresponding author: J. A. Ragaza, Department of Biology, School
of Science and Engineering, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila
University, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108,
Metro Manila, Philippines. E-mail:
References
Bautista, L.B. 2009. The Philippine treaty limits and territorial
waters claim in international law. Social Science Diliman 5(1-
2):102-127.
Bergquist, D.A. 2007. Sustainability and local people’s participation
in coastal aquaculture: regional differences and historical
experiences in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Environmental
Management 40:787-802.
BAS (Bureau of Agricultural Statistics). 2014. Fisheries
situation. Philippine Statistics Authority. www.bas.gov.
ph/?ids=fisheriessituation
BFAR-PHILMINAQ (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
(BFAR)-PHILMINAQ Project). 2007. Managing aquaculture
and its impacts: a guidebook for local governments. Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-PHILMINAQ Project,
Diliman, Quezon City. Philippines.
( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 1 6 )
Checking water quality in milkfish culture ponds at Institute of Aquaculture, College
of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines-Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo,
Philippines. Photo by J.A. Ragaza.
Outdoor circular fish tanks at Institute of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries and Ocean
Sciences, University of the Philippines-Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. Photo by J.A.
Ragaza.