Sea Bass, Snapper, Lapulapu In River Fish Cages(by Sir Manny Pinol)

In Kabasalan River
They Raise Sea Bass, Snapper,
Lapulapu In River Fish Cages
Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay - One of the best proofs that Mindanao has all the resources and potentials to feed the country is the poor town of Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay.
The town with a poverty incidence of 41.4% is the source of King Crabs for export and now they are involved in Oyster farming and fish cage farming.
Today, I and the team from the Mindanao Development Authority sailed through the wide Kabasalan River in small boats to reach the 2,000 hectare mangrove area, 900 hectares of which were planted by fisherfolks when they noticed that their catch of fish and crabs had dwindled.
With the support of the local government unit, non-government organizations, the USAID and the Bureau of Fisheries, the fisherfolks were able to develop and protect the Mangroves.
The fisherfolks led by Ruperto Magbanua Ballon agreed to declare the Mangroves as "No Entry" zones to allow the fish to spawn and the crabs to breed.
Only the crabs which venture out of the Mangroves are caught while fishing is concentrated mainly in the mouth of the river.
In the portion of the river where salt and fresh water meet, they have established fish cages for Snapper, Sea Bass and Lapulapu or Grouper.
They have also developed an Oyster farm which benefits 76 househods producing the best Oyster I have ever tasted.
Today, the MinDA team led by Director Joey Recimilla and the Zamboanga Peninsula AMO led by Carly Jerezo conduct a workshop on Eco-Tourism to provide fisherfolk families additional sources of income.
There are many more areas in Mindanao like Kabasalan and MinDA will discover all of these areas.
With needed support, Mindanao could live up to its promise of producing enough food for the country.
Kaya natin maging food sufficient at maging food exporter.
Maniwala lang sana ang may hawak ng bayong ng pera ng pamahalaan.