BFAR-CHED Philippine National Aquasilviculture Program (PNAP) at Southern Luzon State University in Alabat Island, Quezon Province

Abstract

The Philippine National Aquasilviculture Program (PNAP) is a joint undertaking between the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) geared towards resource enhancement and sustainable fisheries development. The program covers fifteen (15) coastal regions of the country that entails provisions of fisheries livelihood, food security and poverty alleviation. The Southern Luzon State University (SLSU)was among the SUCs that were given the opportunity to implement the Philippine National Aquasilviculture Program (PNAP) as an extension project in Quezon Province to rehabilitate the denuded mangrove areas through replanting, while preparing for the establishment of 16 units of aquasilviculture techno-demo farm projects for the fisher folk-beneficiaries to culture fishery species as their livelihood while caring for the mangroves they had planted and establishing a Community-Based Multi-Species Hatcheries (CBMSH) to increase endemic fish species in the area. Fifteen (15) coastal barangays in three (3) municipalities of Alabat Island are recipients of this project. SLSU through the twenty-one (21) beneficiaries acting as leaders were able to plant the total target of 183,300 mangrove propagules with an average survival rate of 90.41% along the approximately 61.1 hectares denuded areas from September 2012 to January 2014. The beneficiaries earned a total amount of P 1,055,840.00 for gathering the propagules (at P1.50/propagule), for planting (at P2.00/propagule), and for maintaining the fully-grown planted mangroves (at P2.50/tree); acquired 18.2408 hectares abandoned and underutilized fishpond through a gratuitous fishpond permit from the Department of Agriculture that now serves as the SLSU Aquasilviculture Research & Development Center where the 16 units of aquasilvi techno-demo farm projects are to be established for the aquasilviculture component including the marine-based lying-in hatchery estimated to have dispersed 1,750,000 blue crab eggs (10% survival at 500,000 eggs/breeder) in their natural habitat.