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…
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…
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…
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…
As the jurisdiction to the BENHAM RISE plateau was finally given to the Philippines in 2017, unknown to many, the Philippines has an Oceanographic and Research Capability that dates back to the 1900s until the present. In December 1900, the US Coast and Geodetic Survey (USCGS) sent personnel to Manila to establish the sub-office of the USCGS in the Philippines….
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…
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…
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,…
(Click the cover to download the PDF version of the magazine.)
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…
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…
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…
(Click the cover to download the PDF version of the magazine.)
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 (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…
(Click the cover to download the PDF version of the magazine.)
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…
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,…
(click cover to download the magazine)
With over 2 million square kilometers of coastal and oceanic waters connecting the archipelago, the Philippine fishery is one of the major sources of food and income of the population. This area contains a common property resource – fishery and aquatic – that needs protection for the present and future generations. Recent reports indicate that among the country’s major economic…
The Taal Lake, also known as Talisay Lake and Bombón Lake, is a circular fresh water lake located in the Province of Batangas, in Southern Luzon with over 26,700 hectares. As a child, I frequented my great grandaunt’s house by the ridge of Tagaytay City, overlooking Taal Lake. Every year, I was awestruck by the beauty of Taal Volcano, its…
Philippine fishery products can now enter the Russian market after the conclusion of talks between agriculture officials from the Philippines and Russia on 5-December-2018 in Moscow. Agriculture Undersecretary Waldo R. Carpio said that three Philippine fisheries exporters have been granted accreditation to export fisheries products to Russia. The announcement was made following the first-ever Philippines-Russia Joint Working Group Meeting on…
(click cover to download the magazine)
The Tañon Strait is a body of water, situated between the islands of Negros and Cebu in the Visayas region. The Strait is about 100 miles (161 km) long, and connects the Visayan Sea in the north to the Bohol Sea in the south. Its width varies from 3-17 miles (5 to 27 km), with the narrowest point in the…