By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
LAOAG CITY—Fisher folks in
the coastal municipalities of Ilocos Norte will soon have fully operational
Community Fish Landing Centers (CFLC) courtesy of the Department of Agriculture
through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Pegged at P3 million per
CFLC, Arthur Valente, Fishery Regulatory Coordinator of the Provincial
Agriculture Office said the construction of fish landing sites in five of the
six municipalities here had already been completed while the remaining two are
almost done.
Meant to improve the
socio-economic conditions of fisher folk communities with high poverty
incidence, the recipient municipalities include the towns of Badoc, Paoay,
Pasuquin, Bangui, Burgos, Pagudpud, and Laoag City.
Upon completion, Mr. Valente
said these will be turned over to local government units and later on to fisher
folk cooperatives. The CFLCs will also house post-harvest equipment and tools
that will enable fishers to preserve the quality of their fish and fishery
products, which they could sell for a higher price.
Local consumers will also
benefit from the fish landing centers as they will have better access to safe
and quality fishery commodities.
The facilities will also be
opened as venues for skills trainings on disaster-resilient fisheries-based
livelihoods and resource management such as monitoring fish catch and stock
assessment.
Launched in early 2015, the
CFLCs are under BFAR’s umbrella program Targeted Actions to Reduce Poverty and
Generate Economic Transformation (TARGET). The establishment of more fish
landing sites nationwide is expected to reduce fisheries post-harvest spoilage.
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