TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The regional office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)   last week released P750,000 to finance fish production in the province.

Provincial agriculturist Gerry Jose said the fund is distributed among the municipalities of Tinglayan, Pinukpuk, Rizal, and Tabuk for fish hatchery projects. The province also shared P200,000 from the money  to rehabilitate its fish hatchery at the Provincial Agriculturist Office.

The fund, according to Jose, came from the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program of the Department of Agriculture, a flagship program of the government in providing answer to the problem on hunger.

Hunger mitigation is a national campaign, which emphasizes food production and nutrition and has expanded its components to livelihood and fish production.

In the province, the municipalities identified as priorities of the fund are those with existing backyard fish hatcheries that need to be rehabilitated and improved, Jose said.

Fish produced from these hatcheries are distributed to other fishpond operators in the province at lower cost with the aim of intensifying the fish industry at the locality being a rich source of nutrients, he added.

“In the past, BFAR conducted direct fish seeding in several fishponds here with high fish species and this is a follow-up of that project where we improve and upgrade our existing hatcheries,” Jose said.

Aside from providing fish materials, BFAR also teaches fish production technology and introduces cross-breed species of tilapia and gold fish or carp.