Bangus supply down by 20% due to cold weather

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – The supply of milkfish, locally known as bangus has declined by as much as 20 percent due to the cold weather, the city agriculturist said yesterday.

Emmy Molina told The STAR the volume of milkfish traded daily here usually reaches five tons, but this has decreased to 3.8 tons since the start of the cold season this month.

Dagupan City is known as the bangus capital of the world.

“It is not because there is a problem but any milkfish grower would adjust the capacity of his area and his finances. The compensating factor, however, is a higher price because of the few harvest,” she said.

Molina said the milkfish eats slowly during cold months so its growth is stunted.  She said that in normal times, the harvest of milkfish usually takes three to four months, but now it takes four and a half months.