Brunei, Aquaculture gold a plenty in Brunei seas
There’s gold awaiting to be harvested from Brunei's seas and shores; gold that can never run out unlike oil that faces depletion in the near future.
The gold is seaweeds, shellfishes and fish from cage rearing.
Seaweeds, for instance, if cared and managed properly, will contribute half a billion dollars of income annually for Brunei. And the capital and labor needed to attain such wealth is peanuts compared to setting up an oil rig.
Why? Because Brunei, in the words of a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture (UNFAO) Corporate Document Repository titled South China Sea Fisheries Development and Coordinating Programme, is perfect for aquaculture.
Aquaculture in Southeast Asia is ideal in places like southern Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei where there are coastal intertidal swamps, mud flats of rapidly extending coasts, embayments as well as the ponds and reef flats, the report said.
Such topographical and geographical advantages are given tooth by the fact that Brunei is typhoon-free, typhoon being the most destructive enemy of sea farming.
The Programme has been carried out in cooperation with Director-General of Fisheries of Malaysia and the Sabah Fisheries Department by the Marine Colloids, Inc, of Rockland, Maine, in the United States. It covered and studied in detail Malaysia, Brunei, southern Philippines and southern Bali and southwestern Sulawesi of Indonesia.
Seaweeds are a multi-billion dollar industry because they are used as medicine, food, agars, colloids, gels and gums for industries; and lately as synthetic material for spaceships in outer galactic exploration.
The most important but highly expensive seaweed is carrageenan, which reaches US$10 ($15) per pound.
There is no specific farm size recommended in seaweed production, thus it allows for a range of commitment levels. Experience shows that households decide on their own level of farming activity depending on cash needs and other obligations and commitments.
For income projection purposes, the standard off-bottom farm module is that of 50 square metres which requires a labour input of about 2 hours per week. Ideally, this allows seven harvests a year yielding 600kg or 1,320 pounds. At US$10 a pound, a Bruneian fisherman can attain a gross income of US$13,200. A 200 square metre area manageable by a family can earn a gross of US$52,800 or B$80,000.
Sargassum, a brown seaweed, is highly significant as source of iodine. Iodine is needed by the development of the thyroid hormones and is partly responsible for human intelligence..
The Graciliaria seaweed, bountiful in Brunei, is an important source of agar. It is as expensive as sargassum and carrageenan.
Brunei's Bay is a potential mega seaweed farm site. With an area of about 250,000, hectares, much of which are vital mangroves, it can be utilised for seaweed culture. The mudflats and sandflats at the mouths of the major estuaries provide outstanding conditions
The freshwater flowing into the bay via a labyrinth of interconnecting channels and waterways will contribute to the needed aquacultural requirements for the seaweed industry . The major rivers entering the Brunei Estuary like Limbang, Temburong, Bangau and Trusan can protect the seafarms from silt accumulation and pollution.
In a recent cluster meeting on small and medium enterprise development by the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) aquaculture culture has been identified as a potential export industry for the said countries. This comes after the German GTZ completed a study on Seaweed Industry Project: Value Chain on seaweeds followed by a BIMP-EAGA Seaweeds Conference in Tawau, Malaysia on the need to identify areas of cooperation in the seaweeds cluster (production, possessing and trading/marketing).
According to FAO, fisheries as part of the national development sector in Brunei is given high priority but this industry is young and its development is overshadowed by extensive development of the oil resources. Local production fluctuated from year to year, estimated at 4,000 metric tonnes to 5,000 metric tonnes a year.
Fish consumption is gradually rising, having reached 5,600 metric tonnes in 1985. It includes finfish, crustaceans and molluscs. Additional imports of processed fishery commodities (frozen, canned, processed, etc.) of fluctuating amount is also being made each year to complete total consumption needs. These commodities amount to a consumption of 8, 200 metric tonnes in 1985. With a growth rate of 3.3 per cent annually, it is expected that fish consumption will increase steadily.
To reach self-sufficiency in fish and and earn from the the billion dollar aquaculture industry in the Asean region, FAO contended that Brunei authorities have to hasten manpower training in the industry. Under BIMP-EAGA , the Philippines has agreed to assist in training fishermen to adequately carry out the fish production programme. The state should likewise conduct positive fisheries programmes that offer incentives to the fishery sector, FAO added.
There are about 3,000 to 4,000 full-time fishermen in Brunei. The reason for the low number of fishermen is that their earning power is much lower than those in government jobs or those involved in the oil industry work force.
Hence, many of those who were fishermen and their children tend to flock to the urban areas for the desired government or oil company jobs.
FAO is urging Brunei inland fishermen to go into fresh-water pond culture.
The government has a demonstration and training station for this aspect. In the case of the small-scale full-time or part-time coastal fisherman, they can go into seafarming.
Cage culture of valuable species of marine finfish such as groupers, seabass and snappers which have already established local market can greatly bolster fishermens income. Open water culture of molluscs including mussels and oysters is also another possible venture.
A private commercial venture on mussel which was started only in 1985 has indicated technical feasibility of this aquaculture activity.
Brunei's plan outlined under the BIMP-EAGA named fisheries, Halal meat production, horticulture, biopharmaceuticals, financial, transport and construction services, eco and cultural tourism as the sectors it is developing to be globally competitive.
As oil may run out one day and the state is pushing for increased diversification in several industries, aquaculture provides an opportunity for Brunei to harvest vast richness from its sea and inland waters.
The gold is seaweeds, shellfishes and fish from cage rearing.
Seaweeds, for instance, if cared and managed properly, will contribute half a billion dollars of income annually for Brunei. And the capital and labor needed to attain such wealth is peanuts compared to setting up an oil rig.
Why? Because Brunei, in the words of a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture (UNFAO) Corporate Document Repository titled South China Sea Fisheries Development and Coordinating Programme, is perfect for aquaculture.
Aquaculture in Southeast Asia is ideal in places like southern Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei where there are coastal intertidal swamps, mud flats of rapidly extending coasts, embayments as well as the ponds and reef flats, the report said.
Such topographical and geographical advantages are given tooth by the fact that Brunei is typhoon-free, typhoon being the most destructive enemy of sea farming.
The Programme has been carried out in cooperation with Director-General of Fisheries of Malaysia and the Sabah Fisheries Department by the Marine Colloids, Inc, of Rockland, Maine, in the United States. It covered and studied in detail Malaysia, Brunei, southern Philippines and southern Bali and southwestern Sulawesi of Indonesia.
Seaweeds are a multi-billion dollar industry because they are used as medicine, food, agars, colloids, gels and gums for industries; and lately as synthetic material for spaceships in outer galactic exploration.
The most important but highly expensive seaweed is carrageenan, which reaches US$10 ($15) per pound.
There is no specific farm size recommended in seaweed production, thus it allows for a range of commitment levels. Experience shows that households decide on their own level of farming activity depending on cash needs and other obligations and commitments.
For income projection purposes, the standard off-bottom farm module is that of 50 square metres which requires a labour input of about 2 hours per week. Ideally, this allows seven harvests a year yielding 600kg or 1,320 pounds. At US$10 a pound, a Bruneian fisherman can attain a gross income of US$13,200. A 200 square metre area manageable by a family can earn a gross of US$52,800 or B$80,000.
Sargassum, a brown seaweed, is highly significant as source of iodine. Iodine is needed by the development of the thyroid hormones and is partly responsible for human intelligence..
The Graciliaria seaweed, bountiful in Brunei, is an important source of agar. It is as expensive as sargassum and carrageenan.
Brunei's Bay is a potential mega seaweed farm site. With an area of about 250,000, hectares, much of which are vital mangroves, it can be utilised for seaweed culture. The mudflats and sandflats at the mouths of the major estuaries provide outstanding conditions
The freshwater flowing into the bay via a labyrinth of interconnecting channels and waterways will contribute to the needed aquacultural requirements for the seaweed industry . The major rivers entering the Brunei Estuary like Limbang, Temburong, Bangau and Trusan can protect the seafarms from silt accumulation and pollution.
In a recent cluster meeting on small and medium enterprise development by the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) aquaculture culture has been identified as a potential export industry for the said countries. This comes after the German GTZ completed a study on Seaweed Industry Project: Value Chain on seaweeds followed by a BIMP-EAGA Seaweeds Conference in Tawau, Malaysia on the need to identify areas of cooperation in the seaweeds cluster (production, possessing and trading/marketing).
According to FAO, fisheries as part of the national development sector in Brunei is given high priority but this industry is young and its development is overshadowed by extensive development of the oil resources. Local production fluctuated from year to year, estimated at 4,000 metric tonnes to 5,000 metric tonnes a year.
Fish consumption is gradually rising, having reached 5,600 metric tonnes in 1985. It includes finfish, crustaceans and molluscs. Additional imports of processed fishery commodities (frozen, canned, processed, etc.) of fluctuating amount is also being made each year to complete total consumption needs. These commodities amount to a consumption of 8, 200 metric tonnes in 1985. With a growth rate of 3.3 per cent annually, it is expected that fish consumption will increase steadily.
To reach self-sufficiency in fish and and earn from the the billion dollar aquaculture industry in the Asean region, FAO contended that Brunei authorities have to hasten manpower training in the industry. Under BIMP-EAGA , the Philippines has agreed to assist in training fishermen to adequately carry out the fish production programme. The state should likewise conduct positive fisheries programmes that offer incentives to the fishery sector, FAO added.
There are about 3,000 to 4,000 full-time fishermen in Brunei. The reason for the low number of fishermen is that their earning power is much lower than those in government jobs or those involved in the oil industry work force.
Hence, many of those who were fishermen and their children tend to flock to the urban areas for the desired government or oil company jobs.
FAO is urging Brunei inland fishermen to go into fresh-water pond culture.
The government has a demonstration and training station for this aspect. In the case of the small-scale full-time or part-time coastal fisherman, they can go into seafarming.
Cage culture of valuable species of marine finfish such as groupers, seabass and snappers which have already established local market can greatly bolster fishermens income. Open water culture of molluscs including mussels and oysters is also another possible venture.
A private commercial venture on mussel which was started only in 1985 has indicated technical feasibility of this aquaculture activity.
Brunei's plan outlined under the BIMP-EAGA named fisheries, Halal meat production, horticulture, biopharmaceuticals, financial, transport and construction services, eco and cultural tourism as the sectors it is developing to be globally competitive.
As oil may run out one day and the state is pushing for increased diversification in several industries, aquaculture provides an opportunity for Brunei to harvest vast richness from its sea and inland waters.
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