CORTES, Bohol, August 13 (PIA) -- Bohol Assistant Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) Larry Pamugas, during the weekly Capitol Reports which tackled the state of food security here, said that as to the fisheries supply side, Bohol is struggling to rise.

Pamugas said a month-long production of fish in Bohol would only last 11 days.

This after the fishery sector struggled after the series of calamities that affected fisheries, as ponds generally drained dry after the earthquake while dikes burst out with the storm surges brought by Odette.

Offshore, the fish cages and fish nets including the multi-million lambaklads from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources were torn to shreds, depriving communities of the promised harvest.

The fishery sector was then hit by a issues on pricing as local fishermen ship their catch to nearby Cebu to be sold in bulk there, depriving Bohol of the prime and cheaper catch.

At an average per capita consumption of 38.5 kilos for each of the 1.4 million Boholanos, the total monthly production over consumption would only be good for 11 days based on the OPA data.

For commercial fisheries, for example, the OPA which tracks the commercial fisher’s monthly harvest, says the monthly average is at 451 metric tons.

With 1,394,329 Boholanos consuming 137 metric tons per day, the supply from the commercial fisheries would only last some three days.
As for the municipal fisheries or the small-time fishers, the monthly production is at 864.5 metric tons, and with the huge consumption at 137 metric tons, the supply would only be good for six days.

Pamugas said that in 2013, Bohol had over 1900 productive fish ponds, but after the earthquake, most dried up and only about 400 have been renovated by owners who have enough funds.

Of the 400 bangus fish ponds, a total of 971 hectares of previously productive fish ponds were again damaged.

In total, of the remaining 4,200 hectares of operating fish ponds prior to typhoon Odette, only a little over 1,000 hectares are productive.

The problem is compounded with the scarcity of fingerlings to seed the bangus ponds, said Pamugas.

Bohol used to supply Central Visayas with bangus fingerlings, which it sources from Calape and Clarin hatcheries.

But with the typhoon bringing in tidal surges in Bohol, most bangus breeders escaped from the hatcheries when the seas rose.

While bangus were also grown in cages with the government support to communities through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), most of them were also destroyed during the typhoon.

“Of the over 5,000 fish cases that we had, now we are back to zero. And of the 971 fish nest we gave to out fishermen’s organizations, we are also back to zero there,” Pamugas added.

With about 57 tons in monthly production, Boholanos would consume this volume in less than a day.

Data from OPA showed that even tilapia farms in Bohol could only muster some 132 metric tons, and with 137 metric tons of consumption, the supply could not even last a day. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)