Gene bank for aquarium fish to rise in Dagupan

DAGUPAN CITY – A gene bank for aquarium fish will be put up at the sprawling Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) center in Bonuan Binloc.

Dr. Westly Rosario, BFAR center chief here, told The STAR the gene bank will be for all high value ornamental fishes so that fish farmers need not go abroad for their supply.

Rosario said the gene bank can supply good quality brood stock for fish farmers.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., who has financed many big aquaculture projects in the Center, will give an initial P7.5 million to boost the project.

Rosario said the gene bank will be a place for farmers to source out their breeders and thus, they will no longer have to depend on pet shops where quality of fishes sold is not guaranteed.

This will also minimize stress to the fishes because they will only be transported from the center.

He added that aquarium fish businessmen are growing in number and it would be better if they are organized.

He said De Venecia saw the need to address the problem, not by competing with big private sources of ornamental fishes, but by helping finance a government facility undertaking several successful researches that will respond to this need.

Rosario said this will be complementary to the other projects De Venecia, who had financed other ventures like the Live Fish Market, which is a depository of farmers’ produce for marketing of their fish supply to interested buyers; the Aquarium Building, which displays exotic fishes for educational purposes, and with a restaurant at the second floor.

There’s also the Asian Fisheries Academy, the biggest training center for fisheries in the entire country which is ready to open for national and international conferences on aquaculture. And lastly, there is the Philippine Bangus Center, the first and the biggest hatchery facility for bangus (milkfish) in the country.