Articles by DA-BFAR

Box of Assorted Shark’s Fin Intercepted by BFAR-8 and PCG

A box of assorted shark’s fin with an estimated weight of 11 kilograms and an estimated worth of Php77,000 loaded inside an Eagle Star Bus headed to Cubao/Pasay was found by the BFAR 8 Fisheries Inspection Quarantine Officer and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) stationed in Sta. Clara Port in Allen, Northern Samar, in the late afternoon of 17-March-2023. Said box…


THE YEAR 2023 OPENS WITH A PROMISE: SAAD PROGRAM TO LIFT FISHERFOLK OUT OF POVERTY

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Regional Office IX conducted the CY2023 Target Setting of Plans, Programs, and Activities Based on the Approved GAA FY2023 back-to-back with the conduct of Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Framework Planning Preparation Workshop headed by the newly appointed and full-fledged BFAR IX Regional Director, Al-zath K Kunting, RFP. The said activity…


FRP Boats From BFAR-7 to Asturias, Cebu

BFAR-7, through the Cebu Provincial Fishery Office (PFO), granted Php245,000 worth of fishery livelihood projects to the Asturias Municipal Government to help the town’s small-scale fishermen. Cebu PFO turned over on Friday, 2-September-2022 the projects, specifically two 30-footer fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) boats; one 20-footer FRP boat; and five sets of gill nets. The FRP boats, in particular, were sent…


Lambaklad Project in Mindoro Improves Fish Catch

DA-BFAR’s Lambaklad Project Beneficiary in Occidental Mindoro Fish Catch Improves at nearly 18,000 KG in seven months The San Agustin Lambaklad Fisherfolks Association in San Jose Occidental Mindoro has produced a total of 17,915.34 kilograms of fish from December 2021 to June 2022 through the implementation of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Capture Fisheries Division’s (CFD) pilot lambaklad…


BFAR Central Office Receives Highest Audit Rating From COA

State auditors have affirmed efforts of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to maintain transparency and accountability in its financial activities, as the Commission on Audit renders an unqualified opinion on DA-BFAR Central Office’s financial statements for 2021—a first in the history of BFAR. An unqualified opinion is the highest audit rating given by the COA…


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50,000 Seeds of Bighead Carp Released by BFAR-4A in Laguna Lake

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, 3-June-2022. 50,000 pieces of Bighead Carp seedlings were dropped into Laguna Lake under the Balik Sigla River and Lake program or BASIL. The seedlings were released in Laguna Lake which  covers the towns of Pangil, Siniloan, Paete, Pakil and Kalayan, Laguna. 10,000 pieces of Bighead Carp seedlings were allocated for each town. The launch was successful under…


Relief and Recovery Operations by BFAR-8

Thirty (30) fisherfolks from Barangays Asuncion, Combado and Pasay of Maasin City, Southern Leyte whose fishing boats have been totally damaged by Typhoon Odette on December 16, 2021 have been awarded with 15 units of 20-footer fiberglass boats with engines and accessories by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on 22-January-2022. The said fishing boats with an estimate…


Relief and Recovery Operations by DA-BFAR

The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) continues to expand its relief and recovery drive in coastal communities affected by Super Typhoon Odette. DA-BFAR’s multi-mission vessels have been deployed to fast-track the recovery of Odette-stricken coastal areas. More than Php6 million worth of relief goods and food packs including frozen fish, rice, sardines, clothes, and hygiene…



PH and ROK Hold First Joint Fisheries Committee Meeting

The Philippines and the Republic of Korea conducted the first joint fisheries committee meeting online on 1-October-2021 to pursue an active partnership between the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) in the field of fisheries and seafood trade. Chaired and co-chaired by MOF-International Cooperation Bureau Director General Dong-sik Woo and DA Undersecretary…


BFAR-7 Supports Tilapia Backyard Farming, Restores Fish Stocks in Inland Waters

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR Region 7) distributed 33,500 tilapia fingerlings and 16,000 bangus fingerlings in Cebu province, particularly in Cebu City and the towns of Asturias and San Remegio. Several tilapia backyard farmers, fishpond, and fish pen operators received fishery inputs from BFAR-7, through its Fisheries Production and Support Services Division (FPSSD) and…


Olongapo Fisherfolk Receive FRP Boats From BFAR-3

BARRETTO, Olongapo City – Twenty fisherfolk families and one fisherfolk organization received their Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) boats in an awarding program led by Regional Director Wilfredo Cruz on February 24, 2021. The FRP boats, worth P45,000 each, came with a 10 HP diesel engine and a complete set of underwater fittings and accessories. RD Cruz in his speech said,…


BFAR 7 Issues Stern Warning to Illegal Collectors of Banned Clams, Shells and Protected Species

Violators beware! Collectors of banned fishery products worth nearly Php 13 million were recently apprehended by local authorities during an operation conducted in Barangay Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. Dr. Allan Poquita, regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR Region 7), advises people to refrain from catching or gathering the protected species since…


DA-BFAR Focuses on Resource Sustainability in WPS and Extends Livelihood Support to Fisherfolk

The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) is strongly committed to fulfilling its mandate of ensuring food security especially in this challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic, alleviating the economic conditions of the fisheries sector especially the fisherfolk, and addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing among other challenges, that continue to hound the Philippine fisheries…


BFAR-USAID Study Calls for Public Support to Combat Illegal Fishing

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) released on 9-March-2021 the results of a study which quantified illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Philippines. The report identifies what more should be done to eradicate IUU fishing in Philippine waters. IUU fishing ranges from small-scale, unlawful domestic fishing to more…


INTEGRATED MARINE ENVIRONMENT MONITORING SYSTEM (IMEMS): A Game-Changer in the Philippine Fisheries Resource Management

To further intensify the campaign against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF), the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) is now implementing the Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System (IMEMS) Project, an innovative, optimized, and integrated monitoring system that expands and improves the Bureau’s current monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) program. The new MCS technology seeks…


DA-BFAR Lifts Three-Month Galunggong Closed Season in Palawan

The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) lifted the three-month closed fishing season on round scad or galunggong in northeastern Palawan on 31-January-2021. This marks the 6th year since it was first implemented in 2015. The province of Palawan is a major supplier of galunggong in Metro Manila with an average of 95% of galunggong catch…


Nine IUU Fishing Vessels Nabbed in Mauban, Quezon

Nine (9) commercial fishing vessels using Danish Seine, locally known as buli-buli or hulbo-bulbot, were apprehended by fisheries law enforcers of the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) and other agencies in the river of Barangay Tapucan in Mauban, Quezon before the year 2020 capped off. In the morning of 31-December-2020, the commercial fishing vessels…


DA-BFAR launches Integrated Fish and Vegetable Farming for Urban Dwellers

As part of the Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration, Agriculture Secretary William Dar unveiled the project Urban Aquaponics during the launching of the Plant, Plant, Plant Program in Quezon City. Aquaponics, an innovative technology that combines concepts of aquaculture and hydroponics to allow fishes and vegetables to grow together in an integrated system, is one of the government’s newest project…


Philippine Waters Divided into 12 Fisheries Management Area for Effective Conservation and Management

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AREAS (FMA) The Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) No. 263 or the Establishment of Fisheries Management Areas (FMA) for the Conservation and Management of Fisheries in Philippine Waters took effect on 9-February-2019. The objective of the policy is to establish FMA and provide a science-based, participatory and transparent governance framework and mechanism to sustainably manage fisheries. Under FAO 263,…


Fisherfolk and Agri Officials Sail to Benham Rise, Stake PH Claim with Fishing Markers

On board the government’s multi-mission research vessel, M/V DA-BFAR, fisherfolk and officials from the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) sailed to Philippine Rise on 06-May-2017 and deployed fish aggregating devices, commonly called payao, to stir up more fishing in the region. A traditional Philippine payao is a simple bamboo raft with a superstructure at…