Michael M. Ogo, aquaculture extension agent of CREES’ Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Program, along with Claus Bier, outreach coordinator, said the meeting was for farmers involved in aquaculture as well as those who have received grants from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The grant recipients include members of the CNMI Aquaculture Producers Association, or CAPA, Mr. & Mrs. Carol and John Hosono, Pete Arriola, and Ines Guerrero, who was not present at the meeting.
Guerrero, who is from Finasisu, received a grant $15,000 for tilapia production through the use of the artificial fry incubation system.
Arriola, who is from Dandan, received $10,469 for a feasibility study of using solar energy in agriculture.
The Hosonos, who are from Olei, received $14,482 to maximize aquaculture productivity with sequential polyculture systems.
“In 2007, we only had three aquaculture farmers but the numbers have grown considerably in the last three
years. As of this week we have a total of 19 total producers that make up CAPA: 15 tilapia and 4 shrimp farmers CNMI-wide,” Ogo told Variety.
The aquaculture species cultured in the CNMI are the Pacific white shrimp, three types of tilapia and tropical/cocktail abalone.
Aquaculture can reduce the CNMI’s dependence on imported goods, Bier said.
“We won’t be as dependent on outside sources for food once this project takes off,” he added.
“What if the prices for oil skyrocket and we will not be able to afford imported food? Aquaculture will be the answer to that problem because we are making our own sources of food.”
However, many obstacles stand in the way of creating a pathway for success in the local aquaculture industry.
One of these is the cost of power.
The former rate was 17 cents per kilowatt hour. It’s now 45 cents per kilowatt hour and the farmers are not amused.
“We know that there is a law mandating that [the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] has to lower power rates for farmers,” Carol Hosono told Variety.
Then there’s the cost of tilapia feed. In 2001, one 50-pound bag cost $21. The price now is $35.
A 50 lb. bag of shrimp feed cost $27 in 2001. The current price is $48.
“If we can make our own feed here in the CNMI, we wouldn’t have to worry about the extra cost,” Ogo said. “More research is being done to address this and other problems.”
