ILOILO CITY — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) here has assured that there is no shortage of “galunggong” (round scad) in Western Visayas, and in fact the region is not totally dependent on the said fish species.
“We are multi-species and not only ‘galunggong’. We have aquaculture products coming from fishponds that will fill in the gap or supply coming from the sea,” said BFAR Regional Director for Western Visayas Remia Aparri on Friday.
She said the importation of the 17, 000 metric tons of galunggong this September is only for the National Capital Region as a result of the reduced supply of the fish species, particularly at the Navotas fishing port.
“Western Visayas could not benefit from the importation,” Aparri said. She added that they have yet to monitor any imported fish in the region’s wet markets.
If there are imported galunggong, then it should not land in wet market but only for processing and institutionalized buyers or those that are being supplied to hotels and restaurants.
Data provided by the BFAR sourced from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that Western Visayas has produced 9,132.94 metric tons of “galunggong” in 2017, compared to 7,599.39 metric tons in 2016.
These were production coming from the commercial fisheries or those engaged in a fishing operation using boats that are 3.1 gross tons and above and are fishing beyond 15 kilometers from the shoreline.
On the other hand, the municipal fisheries production in 2017 was at 6,762.39 metric tons, also higher when compared to the 6,388.05 metric tons produced in 2016. The municipal fishing operation uses boats of three gross tons and below and passive gears.
The fish is mostly sourced somewhere in Aklan, Antique and northern Negros Occidental. The region also imports “galunggong” from northern Palawan.
The top five “galunggong” producing regions are the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, MIMAROPA, Calabarzon, Bicol Region and the NCR.
Aparri emphasized that the production of the round scad is seasonal. In fact, the three-month closed season starts this month in Palawan. (Perla Lena/PNA)
