SSFs to boost output of dried fish makers

Officials of the Department of Trade and Industry turn over the Solar Fish dryers to fishermen’s groups in two northern Cebu islets.
(DTI CEBU FACEBOOK)

FISHERFOLK associations from islet barangays off the towns of Sta. Fe and Bantayan in northern Cebu expect to get a boost in dried fish production from equipment donated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Elias Tecson, head of DTI Cebu’s business development division, said the agency launched three Shared Service Facilities (SSF) in Barangays Hilotongan in Bantayan and Kinatarkan and Hilantagaan in Santa Fe last week.

“The SSFs featured solar fish dryers. Each barangay, represented by its fishing association, received two sets,” Tecson said in an interview.

The equipment sets in Kinatarkan and Hilantagaan cost P948,920 each while the set in Hilotongan is worth P790,000.

He said that with the SSFs in those barangays, the quality of dried marine products would be ensured since they would be processed in a controlled facility with low susceptibility to contaminants.

Furthermore, he said that the process would lower the products’ moisture content thereby increasing its shelf life.

“With this, the community will be able to meet the increasing demand for high-quality dried ‘danggit’,” said Tecson.

The 72-member Hilotongan Environmental Rangers and Fishermen Organization (HERFO) produces 100 kilograms of dried fish a month, after drying their catch for 11 hours under the sun.

With the SSF, they can now be able to air dry 200 kilograms of fish a month for only 10 hours a day. The organization sells their products at P500 per kilogram.

The municipality of Santa Fe, on the other hand, had an existing mechanical fish drying facility under the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for six years, but it was damaged by typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

Fishing associations in the town, including the 210-member Hilantagaan Fishermen Association (HIFA) and 50-member Kinatarkan Island Fishermen and Farmers Association (KIFAFA), resorted to the usual fish drying method.

But with the new SSF the HIFA and KIFAFA are expected to increase their production from 300 kilos per month to 1,500 kilos per month, with each kilogram sold at P450.

To further utilize the fish supply of these towns, Tecson said that the DTI tapped the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to conduct trainings on how to make fish tapa or canned sardines.