Floating lab plans survey of Sarangani Bay, Celebes Sea

GLAN, Sarangani (March 11, 2007) – Initial survey last week by a research ship of the fisheries and aquatic resources in Sarangani Bay calls for a detailed resources survey, a fishery official said.

This conforms to a plan by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) for a comprehensive survey this year in Sarangani Bay and Celebes Sea.

"There is a plan for a more detailed resources survey towards the end of this year in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center in Bangkok, Thailand," said Rafael Ramiscal, chief scientist of M.V. DA-BFAR, a floating laboratory.

"We are proposing that one of their vessels will come to conduct a survey in Sarangani Bay and the Celebes Sea area with the M.V. DA-BFAR."

For five days last week, M.V. DA-BFAR deployed 50 deep-sea payaos (fish aggregating devices) throughout the municipal waters of Sarangani.

It was DA-BFAR's biggest payao project in the country worth P5-million that will benefit small fisherfolk of the province's six coastal towns.

Ramiscal said researchers conducted fish larvae plankton and chlorophyll testing along selected stations in the bay as the deployment went on.

M.V. DA-BFAR is equipped with state-of-the-art scientific and technical equipment.

Modern equipment such as Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) and auto-plotting device enabled the ship to deploy the payaos on their coordinates with precision.

Aside from three onboard laboratories for chemical, biological and physical oceanographies, she has also post-harvest and hydraulic machinery for the conduct of offshore fishery researches.

"Our CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth Sensor) enables us to survey physical, biological as well as oceanographic sampling in real time," Ramiscal said.

"Marami na tayong problema sa resources natin in in-shore areas and that's the reason why we've been focusing on the resources survey in offshore areas na pwedeng potential areas. Kaya nga 'yung surveys natin have been on the Pacific to fully utilize whatever resources that we may have," he added.

Ramiscal said results of their surveys are available for use by the private sector for potential economic activities and investments. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/RGP)