By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
LAOAG CITY—Fisher folks in the coastal municipalities of Ilocos Norte will soon have fully operational Community Fish Landing Centers (CFLC) courtesy of the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Pegged at P3 million per CFLC, Arthur Valente, Fishery Regulatory Coordinator of the Provincial Agriculture Office said the construction of fish landing sites in five of the six municipalities here had already been completed while the remaining two are almost done.
Meant to improve the socio-economic conditions of fisher folk communities with high poverty incidence, the recipient municipalities include the towns of Badoc, Paoay, Pasuquin, Bangui, Burgos, Pagudpud, and Laoag City.
Upon completion, Mr. Valente said these will be turned over to local government units and later on to fisher folk cooperatives. The CFLCs will also house post-harvest equipment and tools that will enable fishers to preserve the quality of their fish and fishery products, which they could sell for a higher price.
Local consumers will also benefit from the fish landing centers as they will have better access to safe and quality fishery commodities.
The facilities will also be opened as venues for skills trainings on disaster-resilient fisheries-based livelihoods and resource management such as monitoring fish catch and stock assessment.
Launched in early 2015, the CFLCs are under BFAR’s umbrella program Targeted Actions to Reduce Poverty and Generate Economic Transformation (TARGET). The establishment of more fish landing sites nationwide is expected to reduce fisheries post-harvest spoilage.
