About the Recepients

The main recipient, the University of the Philippines Visayas Foundation, Inc. (UPVFI), is a non-stock, non-profit organization created in 1978 by a group of UP alumni and is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. UPVFI’s principal objective is to provide a medium for initiating, assisting, and underwriting activities towards the promotion of educational, scientific, cultural, and social pursuits, including basic and applied research, studies, and instruction seminars in the social, biological, and physical sciences, and travel grants. UPVFI has been pioneering the growth of scientific knowledge and breakthroughs as well as policy studies through research undertakings and extension projects with a focus on the Visayan region.

University of the Philippines Visayas Foundation, Inc.

Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST)

The Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) is the applied research and development unit of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Philippines. Its primary mandate is to promote industrial development through the creation, adaptation, and transfer of appropriate technologies for local industries, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs). ITDI’s main fields of activity are in Food Processing, Chemicals and Energy, Materials Science, Environmental and Biotechnology, and Packaging. ITDI’s core tasks include conducting applied research and development to create industry- relevant technologies, providing technical assistance and training to different industry partners, and facilitating the transfer and commercialization of technologies.

University of the Philippines Visayas

The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) is one of the constituent units of the University of the Philippines System, the national university of the Philippines, established and existing by virtue of Executive Order No. 628 s. 1980 and Republic Act No. 9500. UPV is a government entity mandated to perform its tripartite functions in instruction, research and development, and public service. In addition to its instructional and research facilities, UPV has research stations, such as the Brackishwater Aquaculture Centre in Leganes, Iloilo, the Batan Mariculture Station in Batan, Aklan, the Freshwater Aquaculture Station in Miagao, Iloilo, and the Taklong Research Station in Taklong Island, Guimaras. UPV also has research facilities, namely the National Institute of Marine Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMMBB) and the Regional Research Center (RRC), both located in the Miagao campus. RRC has sections for applied chemistry, microbiology and bioengineering laboratory, biology laboratory, food and feed laboratory, material science and nanotechnology, and several support facilities, including the Bioinformatics section, the Training, Extension, and (Science) Communication section, and the Engineering and Support Facility section. It also houses the Philippine Genome Centre Visayas, which serves as the UPV omics research facility. UPV also has research facilities for its various research groups/laboratories, such as the Seaweed Research Laboratory, the Fisheries and Otolith Research Application Laboratory, the Seafood PRIME (Product Research, Innovation, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship) Laboratory, the PlanktoNiche Laboratory, and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Data Analytics (FishAquaDx) Laboratory.

Our Stakeholders

Barangay Igbon Kasagan Association (BIGKAS)

The main beneficiaries of the project are the members of the Barangay Igbon Kasagan Association (BIGKAS), an association of small-scale fishers in Barangay Igbon, Concepcion, Iloilo. The group was organized to sustainably manage and protect the blue swimming crab (BSC) fishery in the island barangay. In line with the implementation of the Blue Swimming Crab National Management Plan (BSC-NMP), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 6 (BFAR 6) identified Barangay Igbon as the first location of its “Adopt-a-Barangay” program. The barangay, with the BIGKAS members as main players, was envisioned as a model village for the conservation efforts, with several livelihood initiatives introduced to the community. To date, this model village concept has already been adopted by other coastal communities with the Fisheries Management Area (FMA)-11, i.e., in Bantayan Island in the province of Cebu and in EB Magalona in the province of Negros Occidental.

Barangay Igbon is a major crabbing hub with 61 registered boats catching about 5 to 15 kg of BSC per day, making it a strategic focus for sustainable management interventions. One of the main challenges being experienced in this coastal community is the disposal of BSC pre-processing waste. Currently, they place the waste from crab-picking stations on a rented open lot. This practice has resulted in significant environmental concerns, primarily due to the strong and unpleasant odor (methane gas) released from the decomposing waste, which negatively impacts the surrounding community and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

To mitigate this issue, it is recommended to implement the proposed project on the valorization of crab shells on this site. Converting the crab waste into high-value products such as chitin and chitosan provides a sustainable approach that not only reduces environmental pollution but also minimizes greenhouse gas emissions while creating economic opportunities through the production of valuable bioproducts.