CEBU CITY, Philippines — Once a popular tourist destination, the Loboc River in Bohol is now transformed into a fish production site through the efforts of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Central Visayas.

The travel ban implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has adversely affected the livelihood of some locals.

The Loboc River is now identified as among recipients for BFAR-7’s Balik Sigla sa Ilog at Lawa (BASIL) program, according to a post on the BFAR-7 Facebook page.

On Tuesday, April 21, BFAR-7 personnel led by regional director Dr. Allan Poquita turned over at least 62,000 tilapia fingerlings to Loboc Mayor Leon Calipusan and other town officials.

Poquita, together with Mayor Calipusan and other town officials, was on board the famous cruise floating cottage to reach the farthest end of Loboc River, where the fingerlings were released, according to the post.

The tilapia fingerlings were grown and produced by the Clarin Freshwater Fish Farm (CFFF), one of BFAR-7’s field facilities.

The BFAR-7 project is in support of the government’s food security measures and is its own version of the Plant, Plant, Plant program of the Department of Agriculture.

Instead of distributing seeds, the bureau turned over stock fingerlings to several fishery-managed areas in the region.

BFAR-7 expressed hope that this intervention will help augment the livelihood of the residents as well as increase fish supply in the area./rcg