Fish production fell by 3.9% in 3rd quarter

Fish production in the third quarter fell by 3.89 percent or 971,000 metric tons (MT) due to weather disturbances and stricter implementation of fishing laws, a report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

This is lower than the fishery sector’s yearly production in the last three years, 1.10 million MT, 1.50 million MT and 1.39 million MT, respectively.

“Decreases were noted on commercial and municipal fisheries while the aquaculture sub-sector posted increment,” the PSA report showed. “The species that contributed to the decline in production were roundscad
(-3.94 percent), milkfish (-0.73 percent), and tilapia (-0.23 percent).”

The decline in the production of these commodities were also attributed to water pollution brought by too much unconsumed feeds from cages that caused water siltation. In Calabarzon, high mortality rate was caused by decomposed water lily in the lakeshore of Rizal.

Output posted by the commercial fisheries sector dropped by 14.72 percent year-on-year due to limited fishing trips caused by weather disturbances and the accessibility of canned sardines in the Zamboanga Peninsula. It contributed 233,436 MT to the fisheries sector, compared to last year’s third quarter output of 272,277 MT.

Municipal fisheries production also went down by 0.68 percent during the quarter. Aside from the typhoons, the PSA noted that stricter implementation of fishery laws also contributed to the drop in output.

Municipal fisheries contributed about 281,958 MT to the sector, with 84.43 percent unloaded in fish landing centers.

To recall, five typhoons hit the country during the third quarter, namely typhoons Gorio, Isang, Jolina, Kiko and Maring.