Fish unloading volume still down by 3%

MANILA, Philippines — Monthly fish unloading volumes in the country’s eight regional fish port (RFP) dropped by three percent in October as the peak typhoon season ends.

The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) said the country’s RFPs delivered 26,208 metric tons of fish last month, lower than the 27,106.31 MT recorded in September.

The Zamboanga Fish Port Complex recorded an 81.26 percent jump in its monthly unloading volume to 665.04 MT, despite the devastations brought by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng, which affected provinces and cities in Mindanao.

Zamboanga City sustained heavy damage and losses in infrastructure and agriculture due to Paeng.

The Bulan Fish Port Complex has recovered from the previous month’s decline as it more than doubled its monthly record to 479.54 MT last month.

The Iloilo Fish Port Complex delivered 1,783.04 MT of fish, logging a 10.09 percent monthly increase.

The Lucena Fish Port Complex in Quezon province, which was among areas directly affected by Paeng, managed to increase its fish unloading by 5.79 percent to 1,805.09 MT.

In contrast, two leading ports in fish unloading showed great work this month despite experiencing scattered heavy rain, the PFDA said.

The General Santos Fish Port Complex and the Navotas Fish Port Complex unloaded 11,461.11 and 9,643.42 MTs of fish, respectively.

The unloading volume was lower compared to the 12,371.10 MT delivered by the General Santos port and the 10,566.13 MT in Navotas in September.

The Davao Fish Port Complex and the Sual Fish Port also managed to unload fish amid severe weather conditions.

PFDA data showed the ports delivered 243.85 MT and 127.05 MT of fish, respectively.

In September, Davao unloaded 482.80 MT of fish while Sual recorded 381.29 MT.

State weather forecasters said the peak of the typhoon season is from July to October, when nearly 70 percent of all typhoons develop.

With the end of the typhoon season, the PFDA said all ports are ramping up operations to meet the demands of the market in the remaining months of the year.