PH to import 60,000 tons of fish to cover shortage

MANILA, Philippines, January 19 ------ The government will import 60,000 metric tons of small pelagic fishes such as round scad (“galunggong”) and mackerel to cover part of an expected shortage in local supply in the first quarter of 2022, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said at the Laging Handa public briefing on Tuesday. Pelagic fish, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, got their name from the area that they inhabit called the pelagic zone. It is the largest marine habitat on earth accounting for about a fourth of the total world fisheries catch annually.

Typhoon’s impact

Dar said that he had signed last Monday the required Certificate of Necessity to Import (CNI) because local supply has yet to normalize from the devastation caused by Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) on many fishing areas late last year.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said in its latest bulletin that the typhoon’s impact on the farm sector already exceeded P13 billion. The fisheries sub-sector suffered the most with P3.97 billion in losses. “They are the number one sub-sector of agriculture badly hit during Typhoon Odette. The capacity of our fishers to catch will be in question. You have to enhance their capacities,” he added.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has projected a fish supply shortfall of 119,000 MT in the first quarter, prompting the move to import to keep supply and selling prices in wet markets stable. “At the end of the day, we take responsibility in terms of ensuring food security,” Dar said.

The DA also tasked its attached agencies, BFAR and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), to deliver imported galunggong or round scads from cold storages to address the current deficit in fish supply. “I have directed (them) to see to it that these imported galunggong reach the wet markets because that’s the very reason why we are bringing additional supply augmentation,” he said. “So, (BFAR) has the power to open up these cold warehouses and see to it that these are brought to the wet markets,” he added.

Dar said the DA was also enhancing the production of the aquaculture sector to close gaps in fish production and sustainably improve fish catch. He stressed that this was “a balancing act being done by the department to ensure food security in the whole country.”

Source: inquirer.net