Shipments of the fishery products outside of Negros Occidental grew 50 percent compared to the previous year based on a data covering the first, second and third quarter of this year and of the previous year, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources reports said.

The third quarter of the current year posted the highest tonnage shipments of fish products at 2,861 tons. Total tonnage shipments for the 3 quarters is 7,777.646 tons higher to last year’s of 5,148.016 tons, a difference of 2,557.208 tons.

Top ten items in frequency last year were pacific white shrimp, tilapia, sardines, crabs, eel, squids, window pane shell, fish meal (processed), prawn and brown mussel, while top ten items for this year are: pacific white shrimp, crabmeat, squids, prawn, tuna, sardines, scad, window pane shell , moon fish and mackerel.

BFAR Provincial Officer-In-Charge, Carlito Delfin said the big increase was due to the resurgence of bullet tuna which did not register a big harvest last year. He said tuna is sourced from the southern parts of the province and commands a good price in the market. He also attributed the rise to the good season for crab harvest which is sourced from the northern part from EB Magalona to the City of Sagay. The demand for pacific white shrimp known as vannamie also added to the growth in shipments he added.

Delfin said markets for the shipments of fishery products are Metro Manila, IloIlo and Cebu. He said that, in the case of white pacific shrimp, crab meats and tuna , shipments are for further processing for export. He said that, despite the negative growth of fishery products in the whole country as reported recently by the Department of Agriculture, the production output of Negros Occidental is growing as shown in the data on shipped fishery products outside the province that covers only products that have permits for shipment from the BFAR office, and do not include fish sold in the markets.*MNM

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