SEAFDEC/AQD Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center | Aquaculture Department
By Development Communication Section/R Gutierrez
With the need to promote and disseminate freshwater aquaculture technologies within the community, SEAFDEC/AQD initiated and has been conducting an international training course on “Community-Based Freshwater Aquaculture (CBFWA)” since 2007 with funding support from the Government of Japan – Trust Fund.
The training course was organized to enhance the knowledge and skills of aquaculture extension workers on freshwater aquaculture technologies such as broodstock development, seed production, nursery, and grow-out operations. This course also aims to help aquaculture extension workers to transfer/disseminate these technologies to the community.
Last year’s CBFWA training was attended by five (5) participants from SEAFDEC member countries coming from Indonesia (1), Myanmar (1), and the Philippines (3); which was held from 20 November 2018 to 4 December 2018 at SEAFDEC/AQD’s Binangonan Freshwater Station in Binangonan, Rizal.
For two weeks, the participants were trained in different freshwater species’ culture technologies and project preparation as well as field work for rapid rural appraisal (RRA). The training concluded with the trainees’ presentation of a project proposal for a rural community and awarding of certificates of training during the Closing Ceremony.
“I am impressed and thankful for the new learnings I gained about the aquaculture technology and how to communicate to rural communities and I hope that [this] training won’t be the last” said Mr. Michael E. Salandanan, one of the participants and Aquaculturist at Laguna Lake Development Authority, during the Closing Ceremony.
For the closing remarks, Dr. Maria Lourdes Cuvin-Aralar, a scientist and officer-in-charge of BFS, expressed her hopes that the learnings and techniques gained by the participants in the training will be shared to the rural community.
