Twenty-one (21) personnel from the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) Caraga completed the 3-day Orientation and Hands-on Training on Milkfish (Chanos chanos) Broodstock Conditioning, Sexing and Transport held from April 2-4, 2025.

The training was facilitated by Marine Fish Hatchery supervisor Nichole Yap, along with senior hatchery technicians Shielame Catayas and Jerome Gensaya from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), who served as the technical resource persons.

Participants included key personnel from the Fisheries Production and Support Services Division (FPSSD), Technology Outreach Stations (TOS), and the Provincial Fisheries Offices of Agusan del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur.

Lecture sessions covered essential topics such as the biology of milkfish, broodstock management and transport, and marine hatchery operations. Meanwhile, the hands-on training focused on sedation, cannulation, sexing, packing, and transport and recovery procedures for milkfish broodstock.

As part of the practical application of the training, a total of 14 milkfish broodstock were successfully transported from the Cortes Multi-species Hatchery to the broodstock development and rearing cage in Barobo, Surigao del Sur.

Among the DA-BFAR Caraga key personnel present during the technical training were provincial fishery officers Julius Sabino, Felixberto Tanduyan and Bernard Baclayo, alongside TOS heads Energito Balaba and Letecia Alaba, legislated hatchery project regional focal Trina Dianne Marie Q. Compra, and mariculture program regional focal Frederick Rey Omay.

Regional director Omnia B. Olama said that the activity forms part of the Regional Bureau’s continuing capacity-building efforts to enhance hatchery operations and support the region’s aquaculture production.### (Andy T. Ordoña, Information Officer, DA-BFAR Caraga)

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