Baler Multi-species fish hatchery to be completed this month

BALER, Aurora, March 8, 2011-A multi-species fish hatchery that was started last February 2010 at barangay   Zabali will  be completed this month where the species cultured in this hatchery are milkfish,   seabass,   tilapia,   pompano   and abalone. The hatchery is accessible to all types of land vehicles and by boat and is located about 100 meters away from Port   Cemento and 10 kilometers from Baler town.  

Mr. Victor San Pedro, chief of the Provincial Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said that the project shall focus mainly on the operation of the fish hatchery to include the management of broodstock and the delivery of the produced fry to available nurseries for growing into fingerlings.

San Pedro said that the hatchery is expected to yield 40 million fries per year    of the various species.   As for the 21 day old milkfish, harvest is expected to be 4 million fries per run or per stocking. He said that the project was through the effort of Senador Edgardo J. Angara, Congressman Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Governor Bellaflor-Angara Castillo and Mayor Arthur J. Angara. (Jason de Asis)

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J.Alcala (right) holds a blue crab (portunus trituberculatus), which is being propagated by the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) at its newly-established blue crab hatchery in Baler, Aurora. When fully operational, the hatchery can produce 500,000 to 1 million crablets monthly to be distributed to fishermen for them to culture in four to six months. Excess production of crablets will be stocked in municipal waters for the benefit marginal fisherfolk in Aurora. Sec. Alcala has instructed the DA-BFAR to put up similar hatcheries near coastal areas, where blue crabs are abundant, to provide livelihood and income to small, marginal fisherfolk and their families. Also shown (from left) are Wilfredo Cruz, BFAR Aurora station chief and blue crab project leader, BFAR national director Malcolm Sarmiento, Jr., BFAR-MCS group head Dr. Alma Dickson, and BFAR Region 3 director Remedios Ongtangco.(Jason de Asis)