"We have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs’ international commitment fund for an increase in our budget for next year because we are targeting to advance some of the biotech researches in aquaculture that are in line with the Department of Agriculture’s objectives of expanding aquaculture in the country," said SEAFDEC aquaculture department chief Dr. Joebert D. Toledo.
Toledo said the SEAFDEC’s budgetary allocation has been dipping since 2000, resulting in the shelving and postponement of its research and development (R&D) work on aquaculture. This year, its budget is only P100 million, a significant reduction from its highest appropriation of P220 million in 2000.
"With shortfalls regularly hounding our projects, we are left with very meager resources that could sustain our R&D work," said Toledo, adding that SEAFDEC has had to scrounge funds from various donor agencies.
"While projects continue to come, sources of funding dwindles. With the meager allotment we received from the government, we are virtually bereft of funds. This push us to seek external funding sources and encourage collaborative research with the academe, local and international research institutions as well as private entrepreneurs to reduce operational costs," said Toledo.
SEAFDEC is currently seeking research grants with international research institutions and other foreign government institutions involved in similar work.
This year, SEAFDEC was able to secure a $100,000-research grant from Japan. The other possible sources of funding include the USAID, AUSAID, Australian Center for International Agricultural Research and Sweden-based International Foundation for Science.
Moreover, SEAFDEC is planning to utilize physical assets such as laboratories, equipment, experimental animals, hatcheries and holding facilities not only for its own R&D, but also for income-generating activities to augment its financial requirements.
Some of the critical studies being conducted by SEAFDEC involve propagating disease-resistant strains of seaweeds and tiger shrimp.
SEAFDEC research division head Dr. Evelyn Grace T. de Jesus-Ayson added that with inadequate funding, the agency has been encouraging various research teams in the center to create proposals for the continuity of existing experiments and submit these for funding from international agencies.
"We need manpower, we need to improve our facilities and continue training our personnel if we are to advance our work on biotech in aquaculture, "said Ayson, noting that the Department of Agriculture (DA) has designated SEAFDEC as the lead agency for biotech aquaculture initiatives.
The DA is intensifying efforts to raise fish production through capture fisheries, focusing on tilapia, bangus, and high-value fish species such as seabass, lapu-lapu and pompano. In recent years, the aquaculture sector has been a major growth driver in the agriculture sector.