ILOILO CITY — Western Visayas is unaffected by the lack of fish supply as the region has 123 percent fish sufficiency rate.
“We are not affected by the lack of fish supply,” assured Remia Aparri, regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Western Visayas (BFAR-6), on Thursday.
She said that last year the region has 398,000 metric tons production for aquaculture, commercial and municipal.
Although there was a decline in the municipal fishing figures, it was compensated by the commercial fishing, whose production increased by 9 percent, she added.
The decline in municipal production was attributed to climate change, less supply of bangus fry and the higher cost of production input that limits operators to increase their production. Also, some fishpond owners have yet to recover from their losses due to Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Minus seaweeds, she said milkfish remains to be the top produce in Western Visayas when it comes to aquaculture. The provinces of Capiz, Iloilo and Negros Occidental are the top producers of bangus.
Meantime, the high prices of fish in the market have something to do with the law of supply and demand, she added.
She said some traders and operators sell their produce where there are no available supplies.
To address the lack of bangus fries, “the government will be putting up hatcheries and will improve the existing hatcheries to increase the bangus fry production,” she said.
Most of the hatcheries will be established in Regions 4A, Central Visayas and in Mindanao.
There will be minimal hatcheries to be established in Western Visayas due to the presence of the South East Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) that produces milkfish fries. There are also other bangus hatcheries in Iloilo and Negros Occidental. (Perla Lena/PNA)
