The provincial government of Pangasinan is keen to address the supply and demand for “bangus” (milkfish) in the province through a breeding and hatchery project under the Philippine Rural Development Project Scale-Up.

Provincial Administrator Manuel Luis Jr., in a statement on Thursday, said this is among the major projects in agriculture of Governor Ramon Guico III. The other is corporate farming, which now covers 1,000 hectares of farmland.

“The project aims to ensure sufficient, continuous, and quality supply of bangus fry for the local growers through the province’s own breeding and hatchery facilities, which would boost the bangus industry while lowering production cost and lessen importation from other countries,” he said.

While Pangasinan is considered the top producer of milkfish in the country, with an annual production of more than 105,000 metric tons from 2015 to 2019, only 19 percent, or 122 million, of its 615 million bangus fry demand is being produced by private and government hatcheries, and those from the wild, leaving a supply shortage of 493 million, according to the Provincial Agriculture Office.

Manuel said through the project, more than 148.8 million bangus fry, or 30 percent of the demand, would be supplied.

The project, to be funded with more than PHP238.9 million, has an annual production capacity of 100.7 million bangus fry and 48 million larvae.

Manuel said it was conceptualized in 2023 and a series of consultations with fisherfolk across the province, including the 17 localities involved in bangus production, together with the Department of Agriculture and its provincial counterpart, have been conducted before the building of the facility.

Fisherfolk groups welcomed the project as it would benefit their livelihood and the province’s as a whole.

The groundbreaking of the facility in Bolinao, Pangasinan is set to be held in the first quarter of this year. (PNA)