Fish unloading volume up 19%

MANILA, Philippines — Fish unloading volumes at the country’s regional fish ports recovered in the second week of October, rising by 18.86 percent.

Latest data from the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) showed that a total of 8,229.54 metric tons (MT) of fish supply were unloaded from Oct. 11 to 17, higher than the 6,923.62 MT the week before.

Unloading volumes in the previous week registered a 15.74 percent decline as regional fish ports suffered a minor drop due to moderate to rough seas prevailing over the seaboards of the country brought by severe tropical storm Maring.

Despite the overall increase in unloading volumes, PFDA data showed that the majority of the country’s regional fish ports posted declines during the week.

The Navotas Fish Port Complex (NFPC) posted the highest increase during the week at 66.05 percent to 4,167 MT.  This also accounts for the largest unloading volume among regional fish ports.

Similarly, the Bulan Fish Port Complex (BFPC) registered a 28.66 percent increase in unloading volume to 228.66 MT while the Davao Fish Port Complex (DFPC) also managed to increase its unloading volume by 22.57 percent to 48.63 MT from 39.68 MT.

In contrast, the Sual Fish Port Complex posted the largest decline during the week at 93.61 percent to 9.31 MT.

This was followed by the Zamboanga Fish Port Complex (ZFPC) with a 38.68 percent decline to 180.19 MT.

The General Santos Fish Port Complex posted a 4.9 percent decline in unloading volume to 2,899.25 MT.  It had the second largest share of unloading volumes among regional fish ports.

Meanwhile, the Lucena Fish Port Complex (LFPC) also registered a 3.93 percent decline in unloading volume to 276.29 MT.

The Iloilo Fish Port Complex (IFPC) also recorded a 0.25 percent drop in unloading volume to 420 MT.

“As of Oct. 17, all PFDA ports have unloaded a total of 873,412.05 MT of fish since the pandemic started in March last year,” the PFDA said.