Fisheries expert bucks BFAR conversion into staff bureau

The fisheries sector will once again join the non-performing assets of the government if the Department of Agriculture will include the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in its rationalization or "rat" plan, according to Wilfredo Yap, an aquaculture technical consultant of ADB-assisted aquaculture development technical assistance project. Yap, a former FAO expert and research head of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center or SEAFDEC, said that from 1987 to 1998 the average annual growth rate of aquaculture by volume of production dropped to only 5.4 percent, from 13.3 percent during the previous 10-year period (1977 to 1986) and capture fisheries to only one percent from the previous 2.8 percent. "The rationalization plan is supposed to eliminate duplication of functions inherent in the present commodity approach of the DA organization. In reality, fisheries cannot and should not be considered a mere commodity like rice, corn, coconut and sugarcane," he pointed out.