March 16, 2006

Total Philippine fishery production up 6.47 percent 2005

The national production of the Philippine fishery sub-sector, which hit the 4-million-tonne mark, grew by 6.47 percent in 2005. At this percent growth rate, fisheries will have the biggest share of total agriculture production output in the country.

Based on the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics report for 2005, the gross value of fishery production amounted to 146.8 billion pesos, registering a 5.71-percent increase over 2004. Meanwhile, the sub-sector's contribution to the total agricultural output for 2005 was estimated at 24.37 percent.

Among the three sectors, aquaculture posted the biggest gain at 10.41 percent, municipal fishing and commercial fishing at 4.75 and 0.61 percent respectively.

The increase in aquaculture could be attributed to the different interventions provided by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. In Region 10, BFAR's regional director Arlene B Pantanosas cited that these interventions were in the form of seaweed nurseries, tilapia hatcheries, techno demo projects, post-harvest facilities, availability of training and credit facilitation.

Region 10's production posted a 1.58-percent increase where municipal fishing showed a robust performance with an 11.39-percent gain.

The establishment of Resource Enhancement Projects like fish sanctuaries and mangrove rehabilitation resulted in increased fish catch. This, plus the decline in illegal fishing activities, was the major reason for growth in municipal fishery production.

Fingerling dispersal to different bodies of water have also increased due to the availability of tilapia fingerlings and aggressive drive and support from both the bureau and local government units, thus resulting in higher productivity.

However, there was a downtrend in aquaculture production with only a 1.83-percent growth rate, which was due to diseases in seaweeds. The performance of the commercial fishery sector, however, improved. Commercial fisheries experienced more favourable weather conditions, abundant catch of scads and other pelagic species.