Aquaculture tops fisheries production in Q3

DOMESTIC aquaculture output accounted for the biggest share of the country’s total fisheries production in the third quarter (Q3) at 51.8 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

Aquaculture production was posted at 527,150 metric tons (MT), 7.4 percent higher compared to the 490,960 MT output during the same period in 2022.

From July to September, total volume of fisheries production increased by 2.1 percent and was recorded at 1.01 million MT compared to the 996,320 MT output of last year.

The PSA reported that annual increases in production were also noted in commercial fisheries and inland municipal fisheries subsectors.

Only the marine municipal fisheries subsector reported a decrease during the quarter.

Commercial fisheries production was estimated at 230,676 MT during the quarter, representing a slight increase of 0.5 percent from the 229,478 MT output in the same period of the previous year.

The subsector comprised 22.7 percent of the total fisheries production during the period.

Inland municipal output also went up by 2.8 percent to 53,037 MT from 51,615 MT. This contributed 5.2 percent to the total fisheries production.

Marine municipal fisheries, meanwhile, fell by 7.9 percent to 206,639 MT from 224,263 MT a year earlier. It accounted for 20.3 percent of the total fisheries output.

Among the 20 monitored species, decreases in production were mainly noted in tiger prawn, which went down by 49 percent; bigeye tuna by 41 percent; fimbriated sardines by 37.8 percent; mud crab by 28.1 percent; and squid by 26.3 percent.

On the other hand, increases were reported in Indian mackerel, which went up by 60.6; big-eyed scad by 32.8 percent; yellowfin tuna by 28.5 percent; and galunggong (round scad) by 17.2 percent.

The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) earlier reported that regional fish ports delivered a total of 123,813.37 MT of fish in the third quarter of this year.

The PFDA said that the fish unloaded from July to September was higher by 2.27 percent from the 121,062.55 MT unloaded in the second quarter of this year with an average daily unloading equivalent to 1,345.80 MT of fish.