The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR-7) has provided assistance to a fisherfolk association in Bohol to increase their production of tilapia and their income.

BFAR-7 on Friday said the Bongbong Tree Planters Association (BTPA) from Ubay town, Bohol got one unit of tilapia floating cage and 10,000 tilapia fingerlings under its Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program.

This assistance forms part of the Small Water Impounding Project (SWIP) turned over to the BTPA.

In a statement, Candido Samijon, head of the Bohol Provincial Fishery Office, said the agency is giving 10,000 tilapia fingerlings to the association and a set of construction materials for the building of the group’s second tilapia floating cage.

The new floating cage, which costs over PHP100,000, is an addition to one existing unit managed by the association that was earlier given in 2019.

The fingerlings were also sourced from the BFAR-7 managed facility, the Clarin Freshwater Fish Farm, in Clarin town, Bohol.

The fingerlings also go with fish feeds that are sufficient for the entire cycle in rearing tilapia, Samijon said.

Of the 10,000 fingerlings, 5,000 of which were stocked inside the old floating cage, and the other half were dispersed outside the cage or at the communal water.

The association is expected to harvest about 900 kilograms of grown tilapia from the 5,000 fingerlings. If each kilogram is sold at PHP100, the group will have estimated revenue of PHP90,000 from the harvest that is scheduled this coming July or August.

“An increase in production and income is even anticipated once the additional floating cage is completed,” he said.

Samijon urged the association to manage well the assistance given to them from the government to further buoy up the project, which could also contribute to the growth of the aquaculture industry in the province. (PNA)