BOKOD, Benguet -- The
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Cordillera (BFAR-CAR) last
week turned-over motorized fishing boats made from fiberglass to fisher folks
of Sitio Kiweng, Barangay Ambuklao this town.
Forty fisher
folks received 20 units of 20-footer motorized fishing boats and
their certificates of award during a simple ceremony along the Ambuklao
River from BFAR-CAR Director Lilibeth Signey, Bokod municipal
and Ambuklao barangay officials last January 3.
Each fishing
boat has two beneficiaries to promote shared ownership and responsibilities to
ensure its upkeep and maintenance. In return, beneficiaries shall submit catch
record to BFAR each time the boat is utilized for fishing and shall report
any form of illegal and destructive fishing, Signey said.
The
fabrication of the fishing boats was done by the beneficiaries themselves
through the scheme "Bangka Ko, Gawa Ko" that aims not just
to provide livelihood assistance through the provision of FRP boats for the
fishermen but to also encourage and build cooperativism among the fishing
communities.
Signey said
the project is part of BFAR's F/B Pagbabago Livelihood and Development Program
in line with the DA-BFAR’s mandate to “Improve fisheries productivity
and empower stakeholders towards food security, global competitiveness and
climate change adaptation.”
F/B Pagbabago
is a livelihood intervention of the DA-BFAR under its National Fisherfolk
Program dubbed as Targeted Actions to Reduce Poverty and Generate Economic
Transformation or TARGET.
It aims to uplift the
economic status of Filipino fisherfolk through the provision of disaster-resilient
fishing boats and resource-appropriate fishing gears, while at the same time
empowering the fisherfolk and their families to become responsible resource
users.
The program
is anchored on a comprehensive approach to fisheries development following the
Ecosystems Approach to Fisheries Management to ensure the sustainability of the
resource and shall integrate the development of both production and marketing
channels to enable fisherfolk to optimize economic returns, and thus improve
their economic plight.
The turn over
ceremony was also witnessed by Bokod Municipal Agriculturist Gerardo Beray,
Sangguniang Bayan Chairman for Agriculture Johnny Sama, Councilor Alejandro
Basilio, newly designated BFAR-CAR Chief of Fisheries Production Support Services
Division Lois June B. Fermin, and Provincial Fisheries Officer-Designate for
Benguet Arnulfo E. Taberna, Jr. (JDP/ RMC- PIA CAR)
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