Fish output to grow 2% in Q1 2019 – BFAR
Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2019 16:16:04 +0000
THE country’s fish production will likely expand by more than 2 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said.
In an interview with The Manila Times, BFAR Director Eduardo Gongona said, “Hopefully [local fish production would grow] more than two percent if I have to reckon from last quarter of 2018 on a conservative estimate or maybe more.”
In the fourth quarter of last year, total fish output started to post increases for most major fish species except for roundscad and yellowfin tuna.
Gongona said last year’s local fish production was affected by several typhoons, including one that cost more than P36 billion worth of damage to the farm sector.
Local fish production has declined since 2010, turning the contribution of fishery to overall agriculture growth negative. Data from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) showed total fish output fell by 1.13 percent in 2018 from year-ago level.
Gongona, said the BFAR saw recovery in the first quarter of 2019 on the back of intensified support from the Department of Agriculture (DA), particularly extended loan credits to farmers and farmers’ cooperatives and establishment of cold storage facilities to reduce post-harvest losses.
BFAR’s “Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan,” the country’s nationwide search for the most outstanding coastal community, will also help achieve the growth rate forecast, he claimed.
Under the program, the bureau awards at least P30 million to a coastal community that has marine protected area; mangrove and/or fish habitats rehabilitation projects: clean ocean—free of plastics, effluents, and pollutants; undergo three months off fishing season and campaigns against illegal unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF).
“These [criteria] address sustainability, conservation, preservation, traceability, accountability among others. In effect its wholistic approach will increase fish production,” Gongona said.
Also expected to boost fish production is the lifting of the closed fishing season in March. In the Philippines, the closed fishing season is usually from
November to March to give way for fish to grow and be ready for harvesting.
If achieved, the projected 2 percent growth will be a reversal from the 3.03-percent contraction posted by the fisheries sector in the same period in 2018.
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