The Department of Agriculture (DA) inaugurated the Fisheries Building Complex, which will soon house the central operations of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
According to a statement, BFAR is now gradually moving its Central Office into one of the buildings in the Fisheries Building Complex, the agency’s newly constructed headquarters that will soon house all of its frontline and support services.
BFAR’s new headquarters, which now stands inside the Bureau of Plant Industry Compound in Vasra, Visayas Avenue, is a couple of meters away from the Philippine Coconut Authority, the agency’s home for many years.
The Fisheries Complex broke ground in 2012 and will also house the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, the primary research arm of BFAR.
“With these two key government agencies on fisheries under the Department of Agriculture now built within the same area, improved operational efficiency that would benefit the fisheries sector is expected from the said offices,” BFAR said.
At the same time, BFAR will also be able to accommodate more clients and increase their satisfaction by promoting one-stop in all fisheries-related services.
At present, several of BFAR’s divisions and units are already occupying some of the spaces in the new building, while a few more including some of its support and frontline services, such as fisheries regulatory and licensing, inspection, and quarantine will follow suit in the coming months.
Upon completion of the other buildings, which will make up the Fisheries Complex, BFAR’s fisheries laboratory services will also relocate in the area.
For now, the laboratory services will stay in their current location at Arcadia Building along Quezon Avenue.
Due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, BFAR encourages distant processing of fisheries requirements. Nevertheless, the agency assured clients and the general public who will visit its offices that basic health protocols and standards are practiced inside the premises.