Governor Ramon V. Guico III with Provincial Agriculturist Dalisay Moya and members of the Provincial Planning and Development Office during the ceremonial launching. (Province of Pangasinan)
LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — Governor Ramon V. Guico III has announced that the construction of the P238 million World Bank-funded Pangasinan Bangus Breeding and Hatchery Project in Bolinao will commence in 2024.
A ceremonial launch of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) scale-up was held on Nov. 6 led by Guico, with the Provincial Agriculturist Dalisay Moya, and officials of the Provincial Planning and Development Office.
The provincial information office said the facility will be the first of its kind in the country.
The facility will be established at the agriculture field station in Brgy. Arnedo in Bolinao town and will enable Pangasinan to produce more than 100 million bangus fry and over 48 million bangus larvae every year.
Provincial officials are optimistic that this will address the shortage of bangus fry in the country and sustain fish sufficiency.
Some 17 municipalities in Pangasinan are expected to benefit from the project which will involve around 39,399 fisherfolks, 63 bangus nursery operators, and one bangus satellite hatchery operator.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) said, components of the project include seven units of broodstock tanks, 120 units of larval rearing tanks, 24 units of rotifer tanks, an administrative and laboratory building, staff quarters, a triplex building, a two-unit pump house, and an intake pump.
Aside from the World Bank which will shoulder 80 percent of the cost of the project, funds will be jointly undertaken by the national government with a 10 percent share, and the provincial government with another 10 percent.
A report revealed that the western towns of Bolinao, Anda, and Sual, which account for about 80 percent of Pangasinan’s bangus production, still rely on importing fry from Indonesia.
Pangasinan is the country’s leading producer of bangus and has contributed over 28 percent of the country’s total production (PSA, 2019).