Semirara Marine Hatchery and Laboratory

In 2010, SMPC led marine rehabilitation efforts by initiating the Semirara Marine Hatchery and Laboratory (SMHL), developing technology that will improve Semirara island’s coastal environment and long-term fishing viability. Three (3) National Scientists for Marine Biology (Dr. Edgardo Gomez, Dr. Gavino Trono, and Dr. Angel Alcala) led SMHL’s efforts to become a center for rearing and reseeding eight (8) species of giant clams or Tridacna gigas, known to promote marine life and biodiversity.

Giant clams served as catalysts for improving marine biodiversity, its symbiotic relationship with corals and fishes enlivening the waters where they reside. These endangered clams are known as filter-feeders, cleaning the seawaters and attracting other marine species and rehabilitating the reefs. 

As of 2023, there have been around 77,200 giant clams reseeded around the island, with a total of over 186,300 surviving clams. Around 50 giant clams from the hatchery in Semirara island were subsequently spawned along the shoreline of our power complex in Batangas.

SMHL has also undertaken coral transportation in 2014 to preserve further the balance of marine ecosystems. This rehabilitative process brings coral fragments detached from their original reefs through natural processes (such as strong waves or typhoons) and attached to new reefs such as those found around the island, repopulating the reef through asexual reproduction.