Sual Fish Port Modernized to Boost Fisheries, Food Security

THE Philippine Fisheries Development Authority’s (PFDA) said on Thursday that it opened its newly rehabilitated and modernized fish port complex in Sual, Pangasinan. The Sual Fish Port Complex features a widened and extended pier with a trading hall, four cold storage units with a combined capacity of 500 metric tons (MT), blast freezers, chiller rooms, flake ice-making facilities, fish processing areas capable of handling 8 MT of finished product daily, a wastewater treatment plant, a 90-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system, commercial spaces, and improved roads and utilities. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. inspected the upgraded facility along with Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. and PFDA Acting General Manager Glen A. Pangapalan. Mr. Laurel said that the fish port’s rehabilitation is an investment in fisherfolk and food security. “By providing better post-harvest facilities, cold chain infrastructure, and more efficient trading systems, we reduce losses, preserve the quality of our catch, improve incomes for our fisherfolk, and ensure that more affordable and nutritious fish reach Filipino families,” Mr. Laurel said in a statement issued by the PFDA. Mr. Pangapalan said the PFDA is committed to providing modern fisheries infrastructure. “This facility will serve fishing communities for many years, providing them with better services, modern post-harvest facilities, and greater opportunities to grow their livelihoods. That is what makes this investment truly meaningful,” Mr. Pangapalan said. — Marron Joshua F. Mendoza