BANGUS, SKIPJACK TUNA AND SEAWEED PRODUCTION IMPROVES IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2019

The performance of the Philippine fisheries sector grew by 1.8 percent in the third quarter of 2019 compared to last year of the same period, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a recently released quarterly report. Based on the report, from July to September this year, the Philippine fisheries produced an estimated volume of 990.14 thousand metric tons, a 1.8 percent leap in terms of volume from 2018’s record of 972.71 metric tons during the same period. This positive growth is a continuation of the increase in fisheries production of two previous quarters of 2019 (0.97% in the first quarter and 1.90% in the second quarter). “The Bureau welcomes this positive development from the fisheries sector. Rest assured that the Bureau under the guidance of Agriculture Secretary Dr. William Dar will continue to improve its implementation of programs and projects as well as come up with effective solutions to sustain this increase in production and improve the lives of our fisherfolk heroes,” DA Undersecretary and BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona said. Aquaculture subsector contributed the most in this growth recording 494.10 thousand metric tons contributing 49.9 percent to the total fisheries output. Aquaculture commodities like bangus and seaweeds are among the best improved in terms of production output registering a hike of 13.1 percent and 4.8 percent respectively compared to last year’s production. According to the report, the improvement of production for bangus is due to the increase in stocking rate in aquaculture areas of CALABARZON region as well as high market demand for frozen and marinated milkfish. On the other hand, the factors that helped increase the national production of seaweeds are attributed to the increase in planting area, availability of operating capital and labor, and higher yield from application of fertilizers in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as well as DA-BFAR’s interventions for local seaweed farmers in the Bicol Region. Skipjack tuna (gulyasan) also grew by 11.46 percent this quarter. More unloading of skipjack for canneries were noted in Region 12 while high volume of catch were recorded from municipal fisherfolk of Zamboanga Peninsula brought about by in-season of the said fish species as well as increase in fishing trips of fisherfolk. Aquaculture commodities such as tilapia and tiger prawn were down by 6.0 percent and 6.9 percent respectively due to occurrences of sulfur upwelling in Region 4A and less supply and low quality of P. vannamei fry leading to low survivability. Using PSA data, the DA-BFAR noted a decreasing trend for fisheries production for the past ten years. Notably in 2018, fisheries production has finally recovered as it achieved a growth of +1.04 percent.

Reference:
Philippine Statistics Authority – Performance of Philippine Agriculture (July to September 2019)

Information and Fisherfolk Coordination Unit
BUREAU OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC RESOURCES
Department of Agriculture
Republic of the Philippines

Temporary PLDT Landline: (02) 8-701-2585 (02) 8-366-8535
www.bfar.da.gov.ph
facebook.com/BFAR.Central
youtube.com/BFARPH twitter.com/BFARPH
instagram.com/BFARPH