2 Pinoy fishery experts honored

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Two Filipino fishery experts were honored yesterday in the Giant Steps, similar to the Walk of Fame in Hollywood to immortalize movie stars.

Honored were Wilfredo Yap, who conceptualized the Mariculture Park System for sustainable aquaculture in the sea, and Catalino de la Cruz, pioneering expert on aquaculture engineering and integrated agri-aqua farming.

The Society of Aquaculture Engineers of the Philippines (SAEP) honored them at the Asian Fisheries Academy (AFA) in Dagupan City.

Highlighting the awarding ceremonies was the foot printing of the awardees in front of the AFA for its Giant Steps Towards Dynamic Philippine Aquaculture.

Yap’s expertise is in marine and brackish water aquaculture development, Westly Rosario, SAEP president and center chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center, told The STAR.

“His interest lies in making use of our seas and waters to provide food, jobs and increase incomes in a sustainable manner,” he said. 

Yap developed the concept of the mariculture park in order for mariculture to develop in an orderly manner so as to minimize if not eliminate fish kills, make the venture affordable to people with limited financial capability and, most of all, will be sustainable.  

BFAR and several mariculture parks adopted the concept, which has since been established in many regions of the Philippines.

De la Cruz specialized in aquaculture – rice fields, fishpond, integrated agriculture-aquaculture farming, lake/reservoir aqua-farming, and intensive systems and aquaculture engineering – fresh and brackish water environments.

He was awarded the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Tanglaw Award in 1980, when he was director of the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) – Freshwater Aquaculture Center.