ALSONS Aquaculture Corp. (AAC) over the weekend said that it has finally broken into the China market by making an initial shipment of nine tons of frozen milkfish or bangus, which will be distributed to retail stores in Xiamen.

Gabriel Alcantara, AAC assistant vice president for processed food division, said that with the initial shipment, the company became the first Philippine company to test the potential of bangus in the lucrative China market.

AAC has cut a deal with a local partner in China to flood small retail stores in the booming industrial center with bangus under the Sarangani Bay brand.

By breaking into the huge China market, AAC hopes to further entrench its position as the country’s largest exporter of processed and packaged milkfish, Alcantara said.

“The export milkfish were hatched and raised in Alsons’ own aquaculture farm in Alabel, Sarangani and processed on-site at AAC’s latest facility,” he said.

Alcantara added that the initial volume was shipped from Gen. Santos City in late December 2011 and arrived in Xiamen early this month.

Alsons’ foray into the China market comes in the wake of a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations that aquaculture now supplies about half of the world’s fish consumption.

Asia is the world’s aquaculture hub, with FAO reporting that it accounts for about 89 percent of aquaculture ventures.

China is the leading aquaculture practitioner in Asia but the entry of Alsons into its market paves the way for Philippine fisheries to have a foothold in the world’s most populous country.

The Alcantara Group is considered the biggest fully-integrated producer and processor of milkfish in the country today.

A subsidiary, Finfish Hatcheries, Inc., operates the Philippines hatchery and supplies more than half of the national demand for milkfish fry and other high-value fish like grouper, snapper and sea bass.

It has produced more than five billion fry since it started operations and is optimistic that it could increase its capacity by rearing more sabalo or spawners in its ponds.

The company, Alcantara said, also released fingerlings into the coastal waters of Sarangani Bay, particularly in fish sanctuaries, and is embarked on a mangrove reforestation project to restore the habitat of fish.

Alsons has more than 320 hectares of inland ponds and hatcheries in Mindanao and supplies fry to fishponds all over the country.

It came to the rescue of fishpond and fish cage operators in Taal Lake and in Pangasinan when fish kills literally decimated milkfish and tilapia populations, shipping in more than three million fingerlings to replenish the stocks lost last year.

Besides aquaculture and agribusiness, the Alcantara Group is engaged in power generation and power plant management, property development, and services.

The group has been an active player in the economic development of Mindanao and the rest of the Philippines for more than 50 years, according to Alcantara.