Fisheries sector seen to grow 5-7% this year

MANILA, Philippines - The fisheries sector is expected to grow by five to seven percent this year, a slight improvement over the projected three-percent growth for 2009.

In a talk with newsmen, yesterday, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Malcolm Sarmiento said preliminary figures indicate a growth of two to three percent for the fisheries sub-sector last year.

Sarmiento said this was the result of the damage to the fisheries sector (particularly the aquaculture sub-sector which contributes 45 percent to the output of the fisheries sector) caused by the series of devastating typhoons towards the end of last year.

Apart from the aquaculture sub-sector, Sarmiento said, production output from municipal and commercial fishery also declined last year.

The municipal sub-sector contributes about 30 percent of total fishery production, while the commercial contributes only five percent. Commercial fishery output, Sarmiento said, has been on the decline as local fishermen have to go further out to catch pelagic fishes.

For this year, Sarmiento said the target growth of five to seven percent is based on a 10-percent expansion in the aquaculture – specifically mariculture sub-sector, a five-percent growth in municipal fisheries and just a three-percent growth for commercial fisheries.

Sarmiento said, the BFAR expects a lower rate of approval of new mariculture parks. At present, there are 46 existing mariculture parks all over the country.

For this year, the BFAR plans to approve only around 10 more mariculture parks.

“We are aiming more for quality, rather than quantity,” Sarmiento said, adding that the BFAR is aiming for more integrated mariculture parks that would include processing and logistical support services such as refrigeration.