Despite the rain on the morning of July 18, members of the Gagmayn’g Mananagat sa Wangke (GAMAWA), released 20,000 bangus fingerlings to their newly-renovated fish pens in Barangay Wangke, Claver, Surigao del Norte.
GAMAWA is a group of fishermen from barangay Wangke, Claver, Surigao del Norte supported by Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC) through its Social Development and Management Program (SDMP).
Following two rounds of releasing of 30,000 fingerlings funded by TMC, for this third release of fingerlings the group procured the fingerlings from their own funds generated from their earnings.
Early this year, the fish pens and cottages were renovated to strengthen its foundations and to comply with recommendations of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
In October 2019, BFAR and the Claver Municipal Agriculture Office, conducted a two-day Fish Management and Product Development training for the members of GaMAWA.
The members learned value-adding for their bangus through bottling (plain and spicy variants) and deboning (plain and marinated variants).
Since then, their products have been displayed during conventions and conferences such as the 5th Caraga Mining Symposium in Surigao City and during the 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference in Baguio City.
Felix Saranza, GAMAWA president, expressed his gratitude, “Mapasalamaton kami sa kanunay kay adunay TMC nga naghatag suporta sa amo. Wala jud kami nila pasagdi ug ge tagaan na sab higayon nga palamboon ang proyekto nga dako kaayo og natabang sa among mga mangingisda (We are always thankful to TMC for the support given to GAMAWA. They were always there and they gave us another opportunity to further the project that has greatly helped us, fisherfolks).”
GAMAWA is one of TMC’s pioneering livelihood projects outside its host and neighboring communities.
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