WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2014 15 government also increased the budget from US$ 924,000 in 2011 to US$ 6.275 million in 2012 to develop the seaweed industry. This could help farmers supply more seaweeds to avoid importing from Indonesia, and eventually retrieve the country’s position as the top seaweed industry in the world (Dagooc 2012). Socioeconomic factors. The capacity of fish farmers to run aquaculture operations sustainably depends on their economic standing, education and empowerment, inasmuch as these can provide farmers with access to the latest aquaculture information and technologies. Access to this information is normally limited to local elites, who are more capable of acquiring institutional and natural resources, thus placing poor and unskilled laborers at a great disadvantage (Bergquist 2007). To address this, the Philippine government has adopted a shift in its policy program from aquaculture development to aquaculture for rural development, a ‘pro-poor’ program that promotes livelihood projects in rural communities (Lopez 2006). Government and private sectors also have been conducting a series of workshops and skills training throughout the country. These aim to educate fishing communities on the importance of aquaculture resources, impacts of climate change and adoption of the latest environment-friendly technologies (SEAFDEC/AQD 2011). For example, the Misamis Occidental Project has trained fishers on improved grouper cage culture technology so they can operate cage farms in the province (SEAFDEC/AQD 2010). Skills training for farm operations is positively correlated with income, emphasizing how the lack of proper skills and access to technology remain among the main constraints to aquaculture development in the country (Nagothu and Ortiz 2007). Outlook The Philippines is endowed with a tropical climate and vast aquatic resources conducive for aquaculture expansion. However, it also faces an overarching problem—climate change—parried only by an equally potent solution through integrated sustainability programs. While anchored in research and development of new environment-friendly technologies, government and private sectors alike must take on the task of bringing these to the industry’s real major stakeholders, the poor majority. Given a substantial dependence on aquaculture for food and income, their wide and active participation would provide for their needs and also sustain the fast-paced growth of aquaculture in the Philippines. Notes Jonni Fay C. Teves, Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, Don Eugenio Lopez Sr. Medical Complex, Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City, Philippines Janice A. Ragaza*, Department of Biology, School of Science and Engineering, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines *corresponding author: J. A. Ragaza, Department of Biology, School of Science and Engineering, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Metro Manila, Philippines. E-mail: jragaza@ateneo.edu References Bautista, L.B. 2009. The Philippine treaty limits and territorial waters claim in international law. Social Science Diliman 5(12):102-127. Bergquist, D.A. 2007. Sustainability and local people’s participation in coastal aquaculture: regional differences and historical experiences in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Environmental Management 40:787-802. BAS (Bureau of Agricultural Statistics). 2014. Fisheries situation. Philippine Statistics Authority. www.bas.gov. ph/?ids=fisheriessituation BFAR-PHILMINAQ (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-PHILMINAQ Project). 2007. Managing aquaculture and its impacts: a guidebook for local governments. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-PHILMINAQ Project, Diliman, Quezon City. Philippines. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 16) Checking water quality in milkfish culture ponds at Institute of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines-Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. Photo by J.A. Ragaza. Outdoor circular fish tanks at Institute of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines-Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. Photo by J.A. Ragaza.
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