Nationwide fish harvest up nearly 6% in December

Despite the temporary ban at some fishing grounds, regional ports nationwide delivered 5.7 percent more fish supply in December from the previous year’s volume, but retail prices in Metro Manila hardly budged.

The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) reported that fish unloading volume had reached 47,952.79 metric tons (MT) last month, up from 45,355.24 MT in December 2022.Although the volume in December was better than year-ago level, it declined from the 49,718.43 MT output in November, the highest volume recorded by the PFDA in 2023. This was due to the closed fishing season in certain areas.

During the reference period, the temporary fishing ban affected volume at fish ports in Navotas, Zamboanga and Sual in Pangasinan.

Fishing season in the Visayan Sea and Zamboanga Peninsula has been closed since Nov. 15, 2023 until Feb. 15 this year. Meanwhile, fishing activities in Northeast Palawan had been prohibited from Nov. 1, 2023 to Jan. 1 this year.

The government temporarily bans activities at major fishing grounds for a certain period annually to conserve various marine species and address overfishing and climate change concerns.

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But to make up for the anticipated decline in supply due to the closed fishing season, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources had authorized the importation of 35,000 MT of fish from end-October and December last year.Meanwhile, retail prices of fish in Metro Manila remained almost the same in December despite the slight increase in supply.

Milkfish (bangus) retail prices ranged from P140 to P240 per kilogram compared with P180 per kg in the same period a year prior, while tilapia was priced from P110 to P160 per kg versus P140 per kg. INQ