The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has distributed 11,750 fingerlings to city residents here as part of its effort to promote food sustainability and strengthen local fish production.

“Food produced for the family is a big help in making the fish supply of the region sustainable,” June Lois Balag-ey, regional director of the BFAR in the Cordillera Administrative Region (BFAR-CAR), said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

The fingerlings—9,600 tilapia and 2,150 catfish—were distributed to 58 beneficiaries from April to October this year, including members of the San Andreas Strawberry Growers Association, Bilis Sto. Tomas Central Farmers Livelihood Association, Pacdal Cultivators Association, Binnadang Smith Organization, and Barangay Happy Hollow Farmers Organization.

The fingerlings were sourced from the BFAR Provincial Fishery Office in Benguet, the Technology Outreach Station in La Trinidad, and the BFAR Rizal Lowland Fish Farm.

Beneficiaries included residents with small water impounding areas, aquaponics practitioners, and those integrating vegetable and fish production in their backyards.

According to Aira Tad-o, project technical assistant of the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) and focal person for aquaponics, the program supports one of Baguio City’s seven-point core agenda on economic recovery and development.

It aims to promote urban aquaculture and strengthen food security in the highly urbanized city.

The initiative complements the Department of Agriculture (DA) and city government’s ongoing urban agriculture program, which encourages residents to become backyard farmers using sustainable practices.

Aside from distributing seedlings and providing technical assistance, the DA and CVAO have helped market urban farmers’ surplus produce through the Kadiwa store established at the Slaughter Compound with support from DA–CAR.

Aida Pagtan, DA–CAR finance and administrative division head, in a separate interview, said the agency continues to fund projects to boost both large-scale and backyard food production, including smart greenhouses, seed capital for produce consolidation, and infrastructure for the Kadiwa marketing center, which now serves as a hub for city-grown agricultural products. (PNA)