Fishermen earn extra income from sea urchin project

Some 40 fishermen from barangay Paraoir in Balaoan, La Union are now earning additional income from a sea urchin hatchery farm set up here late last year.

The fishermen, who have organized themselves into the Paraoir Fisherfolk Association, are beneficiaries of a livelihood project launched by a multiagency committee in September last year.

Several agencies and the private sector supported the project. The Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University-Fisheries Research Technology Institute provided technology, manpower and the hatchery site.

Local government units provided the construction materials, while Union Cement Corp. (UCC) provided hatchery tools, equipment and initial operating capital to buy sea urchins.

UCC also sponsored "Lakbay Aral" trips where participants visited fishery facilities of BFAR in Dagupan City and of UP in Bolinao, Pangasinan.

Some 40 steel cages inside which the sea urchins are grown are now submerged into the sea off Paraoir. Juvenile sea urchins are placed inside the cages where they are allowed to grow. In three to four months, the sea urchins become full grown and are harvested by the fisherfolk.

Considering that small sea urchins cost about a peso apiece and full-grown sea urchins fetch P80 to P120 per kilo, or about P12 apiece, the income the fisherfolk get is substantial.

UCC, which has a cement plant in barangay Quirino in the next town of Bacnotan, has been involved in the socio-economic development of coastal areas of the province, particularly in livelihood projects.

The sea urchin hatchery project is a showcase project of the multiagency Livelihood and Development Committee, in which UCC is an active participant.

The committee has adopted a coastal resource management plan to promote environmental awareness and improve the income of coastal communities in La Union.