PHILIPPINES - A project to identify Nile tilapia
‘super strains’ in the Philippines will help to increase the living
standards of poor fish farmers and consumers, create new employment
opportunities and provide food security across the nation. Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
is the most cultured freshwater fish in the Philippines, and the
tilapia industry provides valuable income and an affordable source of
animal protein for the growing population, including many of the 30
million people that FAO estimates depend on agriculture and fishing for a
living.
About to enter its second year, the project entitled Evaluation of Nile Tilapia Strains for Aquaculture in the Philippines
is lead by WorldFish in partnership with, the Freshwater Aquaculture
Center from Central Luzon State University (FAC-CLSU) and the Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources - National Freshwater Fisheries
Technology Center with funding from the Bureau of Agricultural Research.
Dr
Tereso Abella, Director of FAC-CLSU and technical consultant from
WorldFish says that identifying the best performing strain in the
country will have vast social and economic benefits.
"The goal of
the project is to develop and make available the best strain of Nile
tilapia for the industry. We want the product of this research project
widely disseminated to both large and small-scale tilapia farmers but
higher priority will be given to small scale tilapia farmers to improve
their production, and the quality of their lives,” he says.
This
will help increase aquaculture productivity, generating greater income
for small-scale fish farmers, improving their living standards, and
helping to increase the availability of Nile Tilapia for poor consumers.
It is also expected to contribute to gender equality through the
creation of employment opportunities for women.
"Tilapia in the
Philippines is the fish of yesterday, the fish of today and the fish of
tomorrow. It is the people’s fish because it’s readily available,
accessible and affordable to every ordinary Filipino,” adds Dr Abella.
|
