COTABATO CITY—The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) has recently equipped its Fisheries Post-Harvest and Marketing Division officers with new skills and knowledge on fish preservation through a weeklong hands-on training held in Manila on March 27-31.
The training, which was conducted by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), covered different technologies applied to fish preservation, including fish fermentation, bottled fish production, and smoke fish making with packaging and labeling.
A total of 12 fisheries officers from the region and provincial office participated in the hands-on demonstration training to enhance their technical knowledge and skills on fisheries value-adding.
Dr. Lydia M. Morales, Chief of Fisheries Post-Harvest Technology Division at BFAR-CO, expressed her appreciation to the participants and facilitators for their commitment and effort during the weeklong training.
She further noted that “this training marks the start of a collaboration between BFAR-CO and MAFAR, and that there will be more collaborative activities in the future.”
The participants expressed their sincere appreciation for the opportunity to learn new skills and knowledge from experts in the field of fisheries value-adding.
They said they were determined to apply the new techniques and technologies they learned during the training to improve their work in the Fisheries Post-Harvest and Marketing Division.
The training covered various topics, including Fish Handling Principles and Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Sanitation Standard Operating Procedure (SSOP), General Background on Fish smoking, Rish drying and Fish canning/bottling, and Seafood Safety Control Program (farm to fork).
In addition, the participants received training on current trends and opportunities in fisheries postharvest, packaging and labeling, and hands-on demonstration on fish fermentation, bangus deboning, fish bottling (in-oil & in- tomato sauce), and fish smoking.
The weeklong training has equipped the MAFAR Fisheries Post-Harvest and Marketing Division officers with new skills and knowledge that will enable them to add value to the fishery products of the region. (Kasan Usop Jr./BIO with reports from MAFAR)
