Project Background/Introduction

The main objectives of this study were:

  1. To determine the impact of aquacultural development, in general, and the contribution of cooperative (private, public and donor sectors) projects, specifically, on consumers, producers, Government of the Philippines (GRP) service institutions, the environment, and overall socio-economic development of the country.
  2. To measure donor-assisted aquacultural project contribution to project costs.
  3. To determine the return in social, economic, and other benefits to project costs.
  4. To identify existing and potential constraints and opportunities for future, long-range aquacultural development, and recommend ways constraints may be minimized and opportunities maximized.
This report describes the past, present, and expected future trends in Philippine aquaculture development and assesses the roles that private, public, and donor sectors have played or might play in this process.

The Philippines was chosen because of its freshwater, brackishwater, and marine aquacultures using ponds, cages, pens, and racks. This history of Philippine aquaculture are significant in the Filipino diet. Fish from aquaculture were from 8 percent to 12 percent of all fish produced from 1951 to present, with milkfish constituting 90 percent of all aquaculture production. The benefits of milkfish farming throughout the country include fry gathering and distribution, nursery and rearing pond production and marketing. These activities generated slightly less than 0.5 percent of the GNP. The Philippines has increased aquaculture production over the past decade, has great potential for continued growth, and has had a long and varied experience with donor-assisted aquaculture projects. In addition, the Philippines was considered a good developing world example of the partnership among producers, government institutions, and donor agencies. The information base from which an impact assessment could be compiled without generating new information was considered to be as good for the Philippines as for any other developing country. The Philippines has had a relatively stable social-political system since World War II. Many people who played roles in aquacultural development are still active. Their experiences, for the most part unrecorded until this study, provide valuable insight into the process of aquacultural development in the Philippines.

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