October 29, 2019

Philippine aquaculture output lower in 2018, says gov't report

The Philippines' aquaculture production was recorded at 2.3 million tonnes in 2018, down 9.35% compared with the base year 2012's record, according to the latest agricultural output and productivity report recently released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The report said lower freshwater fish-cage/pen and seaweed production in 2018, which remained below the base year's record, contributed to the production decline.

Outputs were higher, though, from oyster production, up 39.03%. This was followed by freshwater fishpond production, which exceeded the 2012 record by 11.7%.

Aquaculture production has exhibited a fluctuating trend since 2014 and registered an average yearly decline of .29%. The cause of decline came from the decreases in outputs from marine fish cage/pen by 1.2% and seaweed by 1.01%.

On the other hand, production growths were higher in oyster and mussel averaging 7.41% and 10.49% per year, respectively. Average gains in production were also recorded for brackish-water fishpond (.60%), freshwater fishcage/pen (1.73%) and freshwater fishpond (2.13%). 

Milkfish is the Philippines' most-farmed fish followed by tilapia. An archipelago, the Philippines has one of the highest per-capita fish consumption in the world.