Inclement weather curbs fish harvests

The shipment of fish products at regional ports has been on a downtrend for the last five months as unfavorable weather conditions, such as southwest monsoon (habagat), curbed fishing activities.

In its monthly briefer, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) said regional fish ports had delivered 36,844.39 metric tons (MT) to clients in September.

The PFDA did not disclose the fish unloading data in September last year. However, the volume marked a 13 percent decrease from the 42,354.45 MT recorded in August.

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The fish unloading volume declined between May and September following consecutive increases in past months. This year, the PFDA recorded the highest fish unloading at 66,587.86 MT in May.

Among these ports, the General Santos Fish Port Complex supplied 48.2 percent or 17,773.84 MT of the total despite experiencing “a slight setback.” However, the figure was 9.9 percent lower than a month ago.

The Navotas Fish Port Complex provided 13,559.20 MT of fish to stakeholders, down by 14.2 percent, because of the southwest monsoon season.

The Iloilo Fish Port Complex, the sole fish port in the Visayas, registered a 25.2 percent decrease in fish shipment to 2,038.82 MT.

Both the Lucena Fish Port Complex and the Bulan Fish Port Complex unloaded 1,307.79 MT and 1,249.30 MT of fish, respectively.

The Zamboanga Fish Port Complex transported 680.75 MT of fish due to fewer arrivals of commercial fishing vessels and municipal bancas (small boats).

For its part, the Davao Fish Port Complex turned over 204.15 MT just as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources lifted the three-month closed fishing season in the Davao Gulf last month. The PFDA said it expected the Davao fish port to “continue a positive recovery toward the end of the year” after the lifting of the fishing moratorium. The annual ban was imposed in the Davao Gulf from June 1 to Aug. 31 to conserve small pelagic fishes in the area.

The Sual Fish Port shipped only 30.1 MT of fish due to fewer fishing vessel trips caused by bad weather while the Camaligan Fish Port accounted for the remaining 0.44 MT.

“Despite inclement weather and fewer commercial fishing vessels arriving in September, the PFDA regional fish ports are continuously giving their best to provide enough and rightly priced fishery products to their clients and stakeholders,” the PFDA said.