Aboitiz food business unit Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corp. (Pilmico) said it recently turned over 1.3 million bangus fry to help Capiz fishermen rebuild their fish stocks that were depleted by Typhoon Ursula (international code name Phanfone).
Pilmico’s Aqua Feeds team, the Roxas City government and Sagana Agricultural Supply launched “Bangon Capiznon.” It aims to provide fishermen in Capiz the necessary seed stocks and technical support to revive their aquaculture production.
For farmers engaged in cage operations, their fry allocation will be reared in assigned nurseries, and will be distributed to them once their fish reach 3 inches to 5 inches—the suitable size for stocking in cages.
“True to our brand promise of being a Partner for Growth, Pilmico is here to assure our fish farmers that, together, we can recover and revive the aquaculture industry here in Capiz,” said Richard Rafio, category manager for Aqua-Pilmico Feeds, in a statement.
Roxas City Councilor and Presiding Officer for Agriculture and Fisheries Moreno Gonzaga lauded Pilmico and its initiatives for helping the affected fish farmers. Pilmico is the first feed company in Roxas City to give direct support to its aquaculture operators.
“Malaking tulong ito hindi lamang sa mga taga-Roxas City ngunit sa muling pagbangon ng buong Capiz [This will greatly help not only Roxas City residents, but also in the recovery of the entire Capiz.],” said Gonzaga.
Through projects like Bangon Capiznon, Pilmico continues to advance business and communities, ensuring farmers are equipped with adequate solutions to grow and uplift their businesses.
Roxas City, dubbed as the country’s “seafood capital” due to its abundant fish and seafood production, was one of the places severely damaged by Typhoon Ursula that ravaged the country last December 2019.
The typhoon caused P1 billion worth of damage to the farm sector, according to the Department of Agriculture. In a bulletin report, the DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (DRRM OpCen) said over 62,000 farmers and fishermen in Mimaropa, Western and Eastern Visayas were affected by Ursula.
The volume of production loss on rice, corn, high-value
crops, livestock and fisheries reached 17,659 metric tons, according to DA-DRRM
OpCen. The fisheries sector suffered the brunt of Ursula’s damage as it
accounted for almost 60 percent of the
recorded losses.