Dagupan starts oyster culture to help fishpen caretakers

DAGUPAN City—The city government launched an oyster culture program that would benefit 600 families here, most of whom were displaced as fishpen caretakers from the villages of Carael and Lucao.

Mayor Benjamin Lim said the program, which is part of the project “Ilog Ko, Bilay Ko” (My River, My Life), aims to transform the city as one of the country’s leading oyster producers.

Under the program, each family will be given 17 bamboo poles, four floaters and four anchors for the construction of a 6-meter by 6-meter raft. Rubber strips, from 2 to 3 meters long, will be placed underneath the raft so these can produce at least 1,300 oysters per harvest.

Beneficiaries

Emma Molina, city agriculture officer, said the beneficiaries would be taught how to build the raft, which is developed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Molina said they would also learn how to maintain it as part of their project equity.

“[They should also] comply with the right technology, which we are going to impart to them, and pay their aquaculture lease agreement in accordance with the city’s fishery ordinance,” she said.

Molina said the oyster raft would be placed along the rivers of Carael and Lucao.

Traditional reas

“We initially considered Carael and Lucao for this program because these are the traditional areas where we produced good quality oysters before we almost lost them due to the proliferation of fish pens,” she said.

Molina said the Ilog Ko, Bilay Ko project paved the way for the demolition of fish pens and other illegal structures in the city’s rivers.

Lim told the project beneficiaries that they could earn about P50,000 per harvest, which usually takes place every four to five months in a year.

Earnings

“In other countries, a small oyster is sold at P50. If we can produce good-quality oysters, then we can market Dagupan as the ‘oyster king’ of the Philippines and [a major] seafood producer, aside from being the bangus (milkfish) capital of the world,” he said.

Citing a study that an oyster is capable of cleansing 50 gallons of water, Lim said oysters would revive river life because these would play a vital role in cleaning the city’s waterways.

“So if we propagate more oysters, in due time we will produce other sea products, [leading us to] protect our rivers for the future generation to savor and enjoy its [bounty],” he said.—Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon