MAFAR attends Seaweed Stakeholder Dialogue by BFAR Central Office
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform participated in the Seaweed Stakeholder Consultation Dialogue by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources- Central Office.
It was hosted by BFAR Region 7 at Big Hotel, Mandaue City, Cebu, on Thursday, June 1, 2023, and MAFAR participants were led by Director General for Fisheries Service Pendatun Patarasa.
The activity aims to increase farmers awareness and readiness for the adverse effect of El Nino on seaweed farming, to recommend adaptive responses against prolonged hot climatic conditions, and other seaweed industry concerns, including buying price reduction of the Raw Dried Seaweed (RDS) in the local market.
BFAR National Assistant Director Isidro Velayo, DVM, in his opening message, underscores the significant contribution of seaweed to the aquaculture production of the country, especially BARMM, improves the socio-economic status of coastal communities by generating employment, diversifying livelihoods, and helping to meet basic needs of the fisherfolk.
“However, the industry is vulnerable to the risk of climate change and anticipated El Nino phenomenon in the country whereby aquaculture sectors such as seaweeds, milkfish, and tilapia are affected the most,” Assistant Director Velayo said.
A series of presentations delivered by industry players, other partner agencies like PAGASA, PSA and scientific papers by Dr. Zayda Halun of MSU-Tawi-Tawi and Dr. Mudjekeewis Santos of NFRDI was part of the program to understand the current situation of the seaweed industry in the Philipines.
DG Patarasa, during the open forum, asked if the role of processors agreed upon during last year’s consultation has been fulfilled and suggested establishing an implementation mechanism and strictly monitoring as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to help the seaweed farmers in the country including Bangsamoro region.
Meanwhile, he convened participants from BARMM for a meeting after consultation discussing issues and concerns facing the seaweed industry in the region. He needed action to be taken by the regional government, especially on the adverse effect of climate change and the recurring price fluctuation issue.
In addition, DG Patarasa says that he is satisfied with the outputs of the 1-day consultation, where issues, challenges, and recommendations were identified by the industry key players and recommended to possibly conduct regional consultation of the same to analyze and validate the actual scenario in the context of Bangsamoro.