Fish Shortage Looms! Boost Local Production Or Rely on Importation?

The recent announcement by the Department of Agriculture of an importation of 60,000-metric tons of fish will just be the first of a series of big volume importations as the country faces an acute shortage of fish.

Aquaculture production which is mainly fish cage farming will dramatically fall as Typhoon Odette damaged 90% of the fish farms in Northern Mindanao and the Visayas.

Added to that is the problem resulting from the increase of the cost of aqua feeds forcing many fishpond and fish cages operators to harvest their stocks earlier to save on costs.

The increase in the cost of feeds is caused by logistical problems following the disruption of the supply chain worldwide due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) had earlier made a recommendation that the Aquaculture Industry of Mindanao should be supported and boosted to prepare for an expected increase in the price of food due to a shortage of supply shortly after the COVID 19 Pandemic hit the country early in 2020.

The response to this official recommendation by a field agency had been slow, if at all.

So today, the country is faced with a very serious problem of shortage of fish supply and the expected reaction of the DA is to recommend importation.

Right now, given the failure of our responsible agencies to project and prepare for this situation, importation is the only immediate option.

Along with the importation, however, dapat gumawa na ang DA ng mga hakbang para hindi na lang maging dependent sa importation ng isda ang bansa.

Kung ang projected shortfall is 60,000-metric tons, all that is needed would be about 1,500 Fish Cages which would yield 20-metric tons each two production cycles a year.

The 1,500 Fish Cages would need a funding requirement of about P3-B which is not much considering that the 60,000-metric ton importation is valued at about P9-B.

To make this happen, government must also support the local Aqua Feed Milling Industry by funding the establishment of more mills and providing incentives.

This is the only way this problem could be addressed, otherwise, the Philippines, a country with the 5th longest coastline in the world at 36,298-kilometers, would be a laughing stock of the world.

Imagine, a country of over 7,000 islands surrounded by water yet importing fish from countries who fish in other nation’s waters.

(Photo of fishermen harvesting Bangus from fish cages taken in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur while the Infographics on Philippine Fisheries performance were downloaded from the website of the Philippines Statistics Authority.)