By Henrylito D. Tacio
“The white and blue colored boys and girls gathered together for a common purpose: to grow fish for the Filipinos,” wrote Rene B. Bocaya, assistant vice-president for sales for Finfish Hatcheries, Inc. (FHI), in his social media account.
FHI is the first and largest commercial fry hatchery in the country. It supplies more than 50% of the national requirements for bangus fry. FHI is part of the Alsons Group of Companies.
FHI’s hatchery farm is located in Malapatan in Sarangani Province. The ponds are irrigated with water from Sarangani Bay, which is known for its rich marine life.
Despite the economic crunch still being felt in the country, FHI is steadily helping Filipino fishers in providing reliable fry of bangus in areas where the national fish is being raised.
Last September 30, FHI delivered one million pieces of Sarangani fry to the National Brackishwater Fisheries Technology Center (NBFTC) of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Pagbilao, Quezon.
The donated fry was received by the NBFTC staff headed by its chief, Roy Ortega.
“The fisherfolks and nursery operators helped in the stocking of fry,” said Bocaya in his post.
The donation was part of the group’s commitment to help the country’s mariculture industry, according to Bocaya.
FHI is the partner of BFAR in the attainment of its goal of fish sufficiency in the country. BFAR is the fishery agency of the Department of Agriculture.
This was not the first time FHI has been doing this. “We’ve donated many times already through BFAR,” Bocaya said.
According to Bocaya, FHI started working with BFAR on the fry dispersal program as early as 2008. “This was after the very strong Typhoon Emong,” he recalled.
The reason why FHI works mostly with BFAR in terms of fry donation is that “BFAR could readily identify the beneficiaries.”