Partnership to score WV’s blue crab industry in ‘yellow’ rating

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor 

A Public-Private-Community Partnership for the blue swimming crabs (locally known as kasag) industry in the region is working towards upgrading the species rating to yellow (good alternative) in the international market.

The initiative to achieve this goal is in full swing following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for an “Adopt-A-Village” project in Barangay Igbon on the island of Concepcion.

The project is part of the rollout of the new Blue Swimming Crab National Management Plan.

The MOU was signed between the Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, United States Agency for International Development, Saravia Blue Crab Inc., Philippine Association of Crab Processors, Inc. (PACPI), Iloilo provincial government, and other private stakeholders.

A yellow rating, which is conditional on responsible fishing practices, would mean increased access to the export market for blue swimming crab fishers.

DA Undersecretary for Fisheries Drusila Esther Bayate said the signing of the MOU is an important first step in the effort to bolster the wild population of the blue crabs and increase its yields.

“Over the years, [a public-private community partnership has] emerged as one of the most effective methods of providing service to our nation and people. Only with your support, trust, and cooperation can we meet the objectives to being rated yellow as success,” she added.

PACPI President Kunho Choi highlighted that the primary step to enhancing the crab fishing industry in the country is working towards obtaining a yellow rating, with the eventual goal of reaching a green rating.

Choi pointed out that a yellow rating would unlock economic opportunities for fisherfolk, as businesses in the United States commit to purchasing yellow-rated seafood products.

Iloilo Provincial Administrator Raul Banias said the provincial government is committed to improving the fishery productivity of the province, hinting at the potential construction of a new hatchery in Batad.

“The governor already instructed us that we will put up another blue swimming crab hatchery in Batad because stock enhancement is very important, as you have seen firsthand how these parts of the blue swimming crab have dwindled,” he said.

In August this year, the provincial government inaugurated the hatchery for blue swimming crabs — the first hatchery of its kind in the province — in the Northern Iloilo State University-Concepcion Campus.