SORSOGON CITY (PIA)—A concrete facility in which fish is cured with smoke to preserve it and add flavor has been turned over by the office here of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to the municipal government of Castilla, Sorsogon.  

The “tinapahan” at Barangay Poblacion, reportedly the first modern smokehouse in the province of Sorsogon, will be operated by the village’s fisherfolks, who are in need of alternative livelihood.

The facility was expected to produce at least 500 kilos of smoked fish or tinapahan in a day with Castilla as primary client, according to BFAR.

Nelson Bien, BFAR director for Bicol, said the smokehouse will improve the “sustainability and value adding” of Tamban (herring) products in Sorsogon. Its waters are abundant in Tamban, which are generally prepared, cooked and tinned in canning factories in the country.

Bien said the full operation of the smoke house will be determined by the fisherfolks in charge of the facility.

He expressed optimism that the smokehouse will operate in full throttle after the beneficiaries completed a two-day workshop that upgraded their capability to run the facility.

On the other hand, the Municipal Agriculture Office of Castilla vowed to provide technical assistance needed by the beneficiaries.

A brainchild of the barangay council of Poblacion, the smokehouse was envisioned to raise the income of fishermen in the locality.

Punong Barangay Alex Sotto said the council will closely monitor the facility to make sure that the system will be followed. Also, the council will help market the products to target clients outside the municipality.

For their part, the beneficiaries pledged to take care of the facility to make it last.

Rodolfo France, head of the fisherfolk association in the village, said he and the rest of the fisherfolks appreciated the government for the tinapahan as it would enable them to eke out a living especially when bad weather makes it dangerous for small seacrafts to go out to sea.

The smokehouse is the most modern of its kind since the process of making “tinapa” (smoked fish) in the facility is different from the traditional way as it reduces the production of polyaromatichydocarbon from smoke which, according to BFAR, is cancer-causing.

The smokehouse has adopted the technology that was first used in South Africa and then introduced in the country by BFAR. (PIA5/Sorsogon)