Philippines: Our first small-scale fishery harvest yields half-ton of fish

Photo: After several hours of netting and dividing, harvest yielded over 2,700 mature fish.

We are thankful to report that over 2,700 mature fish were harvested at our Philippines fishery weighing in at about 1,000 pounds. This yielded a significant profit as fish are in high demand in the market. We expect harvest rates to increase since these fish were in the breeding stage. We have both fingerlings and medium-sized fish in the pond that were separated and then returned to the pond during harvest. Thus another harvest of the medium-sized fish is expected in about 3 months, and then another harvest of the fingerlings in 6 months time — this productive cycle will continue from this point forward.

We are very happy that after waiting six months for our first harvest, we will now see more frequent harvests and thus more profits to aid in funding our local programs in the Philippines. We project a net profit of $2,200 every six months, or about $360 monthly. These are significant profits in light of the local impoverished economy. The supply of fresh fish will also vastly supplement the nutrition of our students and children in our outreach programs.

From now on we expect to see an increased frequency in harvests and profits since the fish are breeding at a steady rate. We expect that this will allow our native team to further supplement their children’s outreach budgets, expanding the scope of their impact to reach more children than ever before.

This story reflects the heart of the mission of Peace Gospel: empowering local leadership to reach their native people, and to help in breaking the vicious cycle of extreme poverty. It’s a sustainable approach that gives our native teams a tangible experience of ownership in their work as opposed to simply waiting for handouts from abroad.

Thanks to your support along with contributions from our generous donors, our native team is empowered to sustain and grow this important work in the Philippines. Our outreach on the island of Cebu includes scholarships and nutritional support for students recovering from child labor or abusive situations, and a weekly outreach to children in various locations around the island. These weekly outreaches usually take place on a Saturday, and average about 100 children in attendance. The program is styled after a VBS day camp feel, but also includes dental hygiene training and distribution of toothbrushes and toothpaste — on the island, 3 out of 4 children suffer from tooth decay by the age of 6.

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