More people are now interested in the investment to hatchery business or high-value commercial fish business because the global supply has been declining in recent years, the US-funded Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) noted. It is fact that overfishing is taking its toll on stock of commercial fish in the Pacific. According to GEM the consumer demand for specific seafood rises in China and other parts of Asia, natural stocks of these marine species are declining throughout the tropical Pacific and this is due to overfishing and other factors.
The imbalance between supply and demand has driven prices up and this has raised interest in ensuring sustainable commercial cultivation of many sought-after species. And so many companies are now ready to make good investment in hatcheries and commercial fishes. According to Lauro Tito C. Ilagan, GEM’s senior aqua-culture specialist, Mega Fishing will initially sell the high-value species of fingerling and fries to the more than 1,000 trained-fish cage growers in Tawi-Tawi.
Mega Fishing president William Tiu Lim informed that his company has earmarked roughly P5 million as an initial investment to jump start the operation of the multi-species hatchery project. It is said that there will be an overall investment of about P50 million to the hatchery.
