In line with efforts to boost milkfish and other high-value fish species production, and expand livelihood opportunities for fisherfolk communities in the fourth district of Leyte, the BFAR 8, in collaboration with the City Government of Ormoc, will launch the Ormoc Mariculture Park this December 2025

As part of the preparatory activities, a preliminary meeting was held yesterday at the Ormoc City Hall. BFAR 8 OIC Regional Director Dominador G. Maputol, together with the Provincial Fisheries Office of Leyte, Regional Fisheries Production and Support Services Division (FPSSD) and Regional Fisheries Training and Fisherfolk Coordination Division (RFTFCD), engaged in detailed planning discussions with Congressman Richard Gomez, Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, SP Member Tomas Serafica, and the City Agriculture Department to ensure the successful implementation of this landmark project.

Eight ( 8 ) fisherfolk associations with more than 400 members are expected to benefit from the project, which will include four (4) units of circular HDPE fish cages and four (4) units of HDPE modular fish cages to be provided by BFAR. Input materials such as fingerlings and feeds for one cropping cycle will also be provided by BFAR 8.

In addition, essential social preparation activities, including financial literacy sessions, cooperative organizing, and hands-on technical training will be conducted to equip beneficiaries with the knowledge and skills necessary for sustainable cage operations.

The said interventions, amounting to ₱12 million, will be implemented under the Aquaculture and Mariculture Expansion and Invigoration Project (AMEIP) and the BFAR Regular Fund – Cages for Livelihood Program, covering the provision of fish cages, feeds, and harvest support supplies and materials.

Meanwhile, the City Government of Ormoc will provide 20 units of 5×5 bamboo cages as its family-based counterpart support, further extending the reach of the project to individual fisherfolk households.

“The polyculture of siganids alongside bangus is also a viable option,” Director Maputol shared during the meeting. He also advised that, in the future, establishing a local feed mill managed and operated by the Local Government of Ormoc would bring greater benefits and opportunities to the city and its coastal communities, further supporting bangus cage production.

The targeted beneficiaries are expected to jumpstart their aqua-business ventures by December 2025, coinciding with the launching of the Ormoc Mariculture Park in Brgy. San Juan, and are projected to harvest their first yield by the second semester of 2026, opening opportunities for increased aquaculture-based livelihoods and contributing an estimated 38 metric tons to the region’s annual milkfish production.

The launching will form part of the Mariculture Forum to be held in December in Ormoc City, which will bring together service providers, input and post-harvest suppliers, and cage fabricators engaged in aquaculture technologies and materials. The event aims to build linkages between fisherfolk beneficiaries and private sector partners, thereby strengthening the local mariculture value chain and promoting sustainable aquaculture enterprise development in the city.