Increasing Fish Production in the Philippines

The supply of fish from domestic sources in the Philippines has not been sufficient to meet the high demand in the country and it has been necessary to import large amounts of fish products from various countries of the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping the Government in its program of increasing fish production in inland waters and off-shore areas which are virtually unexploited. An investigation is being conducted in Laguna de Bay as well as in other bodies of water to determine methods to increase fish production by stocking their waters with suitable species of fish. Experts from FAO are training Philippine fishermen on deep sea fishing techniques and advising them on the construction and fitting out of new fishing boats.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expert, R.D. Estes (2nd from left) of the United States, with his counterpart Pedro Acosta (left), supervisor in Fisheries Technology and staff of the Philippine Fisheries Unit, prepare to go out on Laguna de Bay to study the fish population.