The unveiling of the marker of the Tawi-Tawi Modified Mariculture Development Project, which are in demand in neighboring countries in Asia, has become a milestone in the fishing industry of Philippines. It is an anti-poverty project that would directly benefit more than 52,000 coastal dwellers and fisherfolks in the adjacent island towns of Sibutu and Sitangkai.
It is informed that the mariculture project involves the production and culture of high-value fish species such as groupers (lapu-lapu) including the backyard culture of abalone, sea urchin, and pearls. The President said that the project is in line with her super regions concept to equally distribute the fruits of economic reforms to the countryside particularly in the less developed areas.
There is no denying fact that the mariculture project would increase the income of the more than 50,000 fisherfolks here to an estimated P100 million for every fishing harvest period, says the President. It is true that the government is pushing the establishment of mariculture parks (MPs) throughout the country, which now number 31, to create more jobs and livelihood opportunities particularly in areas such as Tawi-Tawi, the poorest province in the country.
BFAR Director Sarmiento said the project is highly-marketable and the huge volume of cultured marine species would attract buyers easily. The BFAR is envisioning a network of mariculture parks in both the western and eastern corridors of the country as trading post for cultured high-value fish and other marine species for both local and international markets.
Rep. Jaafar said Tawi-Tawi is currently the top producer of seaweeds in the country with an annual production of 361,000 metric tons. According to him among the teeming high-value fish species in the province are several types of groupers (lapu-lapu) including the prized Napoleon wrasse, locally called “mameng.”
