Fish unloading at Navotas port to rise further in March with lifting of closed fishing season
THE Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) said fish unloading at the Navotas Fish Port Complex (NFPC) this month continues to rise and may even surpass the previous month’s volume due to increased supply following the lifting of closed fishing season.
In a news statement issued on Thursday, PFDA said it has recorded a total of 9,506.81 metric tons (MT) of unloaded aquaculture, marine and frozen fish products at the NFPC for the period of March 1 to 15.
The volume of fish unloaded per sector for the first two weeks of March was as follows: aquaculture (1,480.88 MT), marine (5,743.44 MT), and frozen fish products (2,282.49 MT), according to the PFDA, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“Based on previous reports from the past months, PFDA-NFPC has maintained its increasing fish supply this March. By the end of the month, PFDA-NFPC is looking forward to surpassing its own record of 12,404.4 MT in January and the 15,384.9 MT in February,” it said.
“Despite the dangers posed by the current pandemic, PFDANFPC is expected to maintain its positive record until the end of the month, and subsequent months thereafter,” it added.
PFDA said galunggong remained as the top unloaded fish at the NFPC followed by bangus, tilapia, tulingan and tamban.
“It is noted that the continuous increase in the supply and unloading in PFDA-NFPC is connected to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources [BFAR]’S lifting of the three-month closed fishing season in the major fishing grounds of Northeastern Palawan and in the Visayan Sea last February,” the PFDA said.
In a separate statement, PFDA said total fish unloading across seven regional fish ports as of March 14 grew by 3 percent from the previous week.
PFDA data showed that fish unloading at the NFPC during the March 8 to 14 period reached 5,090.66 MT, 27.22 percent higher than the 4,001.42 MT recorded in the previous week.
PFDA data also showed fish unloading in Lucena fish ports and Iloilo fish ports expanded by 34.18 percent and 2.83 percent, respectively, on a weekly basis. Fish unloaded during the reference period at the Lucena fish port reached 369.5 MT while those unloaded at the Iloilo fish port reached 415.49 MT.
“In relation to this significant increase in supply, PFDA’S DA ON THE GO [IOTG] project continues to deliver fresh, frozen and budgetfriendly fish supply to its consumers within Metro Manila, and selected areas in Luzon,” PFDA said.
“As of March 15, the IOTG project has already sold a total of 99,647.20 kilograms of affordable fish and fishery products and has served more than 350,000 families,” PFDA added.