BFAR opens Mariculture zone to investors

CEBU, Philippines - The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource (BFAR) Central Visayas is currently marketing its P2.5 million Mariculture Zone project aimed at providing business opportunities to Filipinos and even foreign investors alike.

The Mariculture Zone integrates all sea-based livelihood projects in one facility which measures over 250 hectares and was launched a year ago in Talibon, Bohol.

In an interview with BFAR Region 7 director Andres M. Bojos, he said that the zone is now being marketed to local and foreign investors.

“The Mariculture zone works similar to an industrial economic zone. In it we provide investors the necessary infrastructure they need for their operations such as mooring buoys, fish cages and all they need is to rent a space and all services such as technical assistance, sourcing of stocks, marketing assistance and project design will be made available to them by BFAR,” said Bojos.

He said that locators can do fish cage culture, seaweed culture, oyster production and even abalone cage culture for export at the facility and any other sea-based activity.

Bojos is confident that if the project will be able to attract medium and big investors, it will boost the employment of people from the province of Bohol especially from fishing communities of the locality and its surrounding barangays.

Currently, the zone already has a few locators but these are still small time players so the agency is still looking at attracting bigger investors.

“The market is still local because the production is not yet massive but we are eyeing big investors to come in especially foreign investors and exporters. Once it all kicks off, we can put up more support facilities such as an ice plant, storage processing plant, transport facilities, trucking wharf, and even a trading post to market the products,” Bojos outlaid.

He said that the province of Bohol has been chosen as the first site for the Mariculture zone in the region because of the province’s available areas to do such undertakings and the availability of resources.

Bojos explained that here in Cebu, there are no available spaces to accommodate such project and if ever they will do the same concept, it will be a smaller version maybe in areas like Carcar and Carmen.

“We are sure that once this project shoots up, it will snowball just like Mariculture zones in other regions. At the zone, locators can start their operations immediately and they no longer need to build the structure because we had it ready for them. At this time, we have to train our fisher folks and investors to become seed farmers than mere hunters so instead of hunting fish, they should rather produce them to generate more jobs to the community, said Bojos.

BFAR spent around P2. 5 million for the Mariculture zone in Talibon and about the same budget will also be spent for another Mariculture zone that is currently being built in Calape, Bohol which is initially scheduled to be launched this April.

“This kind facility can also pave the way for other investors to put up ancillary industries around the zone that will further enhance the economic activities of the area. It will provide more jobs and at the same time help the local government to increase its revenues,” added Bojos.

The Mariculture zone provides incentives to locators similar to industrial zones such as tax and holiday incentives.