By Ralph John Mijares
ROXAS CITY—Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Officer-in-Charge Edwin Javier said that the Covid-19 has not affected the fisheries sector that much in terms of production.
“Hindi gid tama ka negative kon sa production [ang aton] istoryahan,” Javier said in the May 4 edition of the Governor’s Update on the Capiz Kabalaka Information Center Facebook page.
according to Javier, in some weeks, Covid-19 affected the sales of the small fishermen but business went well again when the traders resumed purchasing.
Javier added that the BFAR does not have anything planned for Covid-19-related assistance but it plans to give assistance for individual projects and to small fishermen.
“Gintingob [ini sa] SAP (Social Amelioration Program) (This is collectively under the SAP),” Javier said.
Some of the regular projects include giving fish semen, feeds and assistance to mussel and oyster fishers. Javier added that they are giving feeds in the succeeding weeks to beneficiaries who have yet to be selected per criteria.
Javier said they are also monitoring the price of seafood and will look into setting suggested retail prices, if needed.
Javier advised fishers to observe social distancing when selling their fish or but also when they are on boat fishing. In particular, only two per boat are allowed.
