ZAMBOANGA CITY—Tawi-Tawi has leased its
multi-species hatchery to sardine industry leader Mega Fishing
Corporation (MFC), under an agreement signed here by Governor
Sadi-kul Sahali and MFC president William Lim.
The hatchery, which will produce up to
400,000 fingerlings of grouper and 1.6 to 3.4 million abalone
spats annually, will help to ensure a steady and sustainable
supply of high-value marine species for grow-out by fish farmers
selling to Asian markets.
The hatchery-bred young will be purchased by
approximately 1,000 growers in Tawi-Tawi and nearby areas,
including former combatants of the Moro National Liberation
Front who have been assisted by USAID’s Growth with Equity in
Min-danao (GEM) Program to become mariculture farmers.
The hatchery is expected to help prevent the
depletion of various commercial marine species in the Sulu
archipelago, as local growers will no longer have to rely on
catching young fish in the wild for grow-out, in order to meet
market demand.
Zamboanga-based MFC is a deep-sea purse seine
fishing company which ships its canned fish products to 22
countries. It reported a 50-percent increase in its volume of
exports in 2007.
The establishment of the multi-species hatchery, which was
turned over by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to the provincial government
last month, was assisted by the Southeast Asian Fisheries
Development Center, Philippine Fisheries Development Authority,
and the GEM Program, which is implemented with the oversight of
the Mindanao Economic Development Council. – GEM
