The Department of Agriculture (DA) assured the public on Tuesday that the fish supply and prices are stable in the NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna).
“This favorable condition was due to the peak season in the country’s major fishing grounds, as well as from the DA’s efforts to ensure food security amid the pandemic,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement.
“During the second week of the month, from April 8 to 14, total volume of marine fish catch unloaded at the Navotas Fish Port Complex amounted to 3,760 metric tons (MT), 200 MT more than the previous week,” Dar said.
According to the reports of DA’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), Dar said the “unloadings consisted mainly of galunggong totalling 2,280 MT, and the rest was a combination of turay, tulingan, tunsoy, tamban, squid, matambaka, gulyasan, dalagang bukid, and shrimps.”
The DA chief said the fish supply was caught from the country’s major fishing grounds, namely the waters off eastern and northern Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Visayan Sea.
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Fish supply, prices stable in NCR Plus: DA
The supply of milkfish or bangus and tilapia was also abundant. They are from fish pens and fishponds in Bulacan, Pangasinan, Taal Lake in Batangas, and Laguna de Bay.
“As a result, prevailing retail prices of the most in-demand fishery commodities remained stable in most public markets in the NCR plus,” Dar said.
The prices of fresh galunggong also improved, from P180 to P240 per kilogram, while prices of tilapia and bangus was still sold at P120 to P130 per kilo, and P180 per kilo, respectively.
“In the months ahead, we will continue to make fishery products and food, in general, accessible and affordable to all consumers, particularly in the ‘NCR plus’ and in other urban communities, where the threat of hunger looms,” Dar said.
“In all our efforts, we will also ensure that small fishers get reasonable prices for their produce and fish catch, and thus respectable earnings for their families,” he added.