a q u a fa rm n e w s • LG U s and aq u acu ltu re
P ototan : g oin g for n ative catfish
By A P S u r t i d a
P a b lo P e r e z , 5 7 , h a s b e e n C h a ir o f P ototan's m unicip al agricu lture and fish
ery co u n cil (M A F C ) for the la st 15 years.
P ototan is 29 km north o f Ilo ilo City and is better k n o w n as the “rice g ran a ry ” of P anay island. F or decades, it h as bum per h arv ests o f h igh y ield ing varieties (H YV) o f rice. So, w h ere d oes aquaculture fit in?
“W e figured that w h en the s o - c a lle d safety n ets of the GA TT-W TO are lifted in 2004, rice p rod u ctio n w o u ld n ’ t be as prof
itab le as before. In a n ticip a tio n of that, w e're com ing o u t w ith alternative liv e li
hood projects for o u r constituents. F resh
w ater aq uaculture is one viab le alternative due to the p resen ce o f sev eral A frican cat
fish (C la ria s g a r ie p in u s) farm ers. B ut we w ant to sp e c ialize in the native variety (C. m a c r o c e p h a lu s) o r 'p an ta t'," sa y s M r.
Perez.
It is understandable w hy Pototan w ould lik e to be k n o w n as the n a tiv e catfish center. Z arraga, a n e igh b o rin g m unicip al
ity is alread y k no w n as the “ A frican cat
fish cen ter.” T he n a tiv e catfish is m ore
juicy, succulent and d e lic io u s, e x p e rts agree.
A ccording to Mr. Perez, they also w ant to raise tila p ia s, b ig h e a d carp and even go into seabass polyculture.
A sked about bodies o f w ater to raise these fishes, Mr. Perez, cited several w ater im pound
m ents and irrigation ca
n a ls. “ W e d o n ’ t h a v e p r o b le m s w ith w a te r here as far as fish rais
ing is concerned, except for pesticide pollution or run-offs, but w e are tak
ing care o f that."
Q ueried on details of their plans to e s
ta b lis h th e n a tiv e c a tf is h in d u s tr y in Pototan. Mr. Perez g av e us an overview . T he project title is "N ative catfish in d u s
try d evelo p m ent for the m unicip ality of P ototan." T his project is a collaborative ef
fort betw een the LG U , the Iloilo P rovin
cial G overnm ent, SE A FD E C /A Q D and the B ureau of F isheries and A quatic Re- sources.
Mr. Perez' projection is that once it is put into place, the n ativ e catfish industry w o u ld generate at least P5 m illio n an n u ally, provid ing livelih oo d to sm all farm ers w ho can grow them in their backyards and in som e portions of their rice farms.
The project w ou ld cost about P 225,000 w hich w ill be bankrolled by the cou ntry
side d evelo p m ent fund of C ongressm an M anuel P arcon of the 4th C ongressional D istrict, P rovince of Iloilo.
A m ong the com ponents of the project are: m unicipal hatchery, feed dealers and su p p lie rs, farm er-co o p era to rs' ro a d sid e
m arket, and barbecue stands, an d the c o operative m arketing netw ork.
A cco rd in g to M r. P erez, the n a tiv e
‘p antat’ used to be ab u nd ant in the rivers, creeks and stream s of Pototan before the use o f H Y V rice. W ith H Y V rice cam e, the heavy inputs of pesticides and the even
tual run off to rivers an d stream s poisoned th e n a tu r a l s p a w n in g g r o u n d s o f the 'pantat.'
B ut the shift to integrated pest m anage
m ent in rice farm ing h as encouraged fish culture in rice farm s, and this au gurs w ell for the return o f the n ativ e catfish. A Q D ’ s role is to p rovid e training on breeding and nursery m anagem ent o f the native catfish, and technical support on its grow -out.
Mr. Perez, together w ith liv e other tech
n ic a l p erso n n el o f the Ilo ilo P ro v in cial LG U , underw ent a tw o -w eek training at A Q D in S eptem ber this year. A Q D also p rovided Mr. Perez w ith 289 sub-adult catfish w hich he is raising in h is ponds at barangay C ato-ogan in Pototan.
H opefully, in 6-7 m onths they w ill turn into breeders and catfish fingerlings d is
persal in P ototan w o u ld begin.
A sked about policies, regulations, reso
lutions w hich he, as a M A F C chair, has enforced, authored or ad vo cated for the benefit of the environm ent and sustainable food production, he m entio ned ( 1) a reso
lution on banning electric fishing (use of car batteries); (2) banning o f carabaos from irrigation canals so as not to pollute the w aters w ith their w aste; and (3) p rohibi
tion of red -labeled pesticides.
Q ueried ab o u t an y p ro b le m s he e n counters in his food production program s, Mr. Perez noticed that people do not read ily accept in n ov ations or n ew ideas unless they see h ow it perform s first. “ It’ s good that people see the profitability of African catfish. It’ s not hard to convince them to sw itch to the lo cal variety; after all, there are already existing p o n d s.”
Mr. Perez is also thankful to A Q D for its proactive stance p articu larly to L G U s in P anay w hich are the conduits to local com m unities in brin gin g A Q D techno lo
gies and effecting sustainable aquaculture and coastal resou rces m anagem ent. ###
20 SEAFDEC Asian Aquaculture Vol. XXI No. 6 December 1999
