More oysters and crabs may soon be spawning and growing in the Philippines following the signing of a partnership between the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and an international aquaculture research centre.
MinDA and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) formalised their three-year partnership in September with a view to establishing hatcheries and developing aquaculture in the Philippine’s second largest island, Mindanao.
“Let us build a facility that will just keep producing fingerlings, and for the next five years, why don’t we support our fisherfolk with fingerlings, free for the next five years,” said MinDA chair Emmanuel Piñol.
The memorandum of understanding, signed at the SEAFDEC/AQD headquarters in Tigbauan, Iloilo by Emmanuel Piñol and SEAFDEC/AQD chief executive, Dan Baliao, will promote techno-transfer programmes, including verification and training in broodstock, hatchery, nursery, and grow-out operations of commercially viable finfishes, crustaceans, molluscs and seaweeds.
The MoU will firstly create an oyster breeding facility, before focusing on crabs and then other high-value species. The first oyster hatchery is planned for Zamboanga Sibugay in Mindanao.
Dr Leobert de la Peña, head of the Research Division of SEAFDEC/AQD, expressed support for the project and said that SEAFDEC/AQD is willing to share its expertise and technical capabilities to make the collaboration successful.
