DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 June) — The enforcement of the three-month ban on fishing at the Davao Gulf will likely jack up the prices of fish in Davao Region, an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Davao said.
BFAR-Davao regional director Raul Millana told Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Friday that the fishing has been prohibited since June 1 and will last until August 31, which would affect the local supply that would result in higher prices of fish.
He added that aquaculture might help cushion the inflationary effect of the fishing ban, prompting the agency to support efforts to support small fisherfolk in setting up marine fish cages, including in inland waters.
He said production of fresh water fish, including tilapia and catfish, would help abate the increase in the prices of fish.
The implementation of the ban, which is now on its ninth year, must be enforced to allow pelagic fish to reproduce since the period from June 1 to August 31 has been established as their spawning season, according to Millana.
The Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior and Local Government issued Joint Administrative Circular No. 2 in 2014 establishing a three-month closed fishing season in the Davao Gulf to “conserve marine resources, to secure the spawning period of pelagic fishes in the gulf and continuously implement measures to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.”
The order bans small-scale to large-scale commercial fishing vessels from 3.1 to 150 gross tons and the use of bag nets and ring nets in the gulf, which the BFAR identified as a spawning ground for tuna and other fish species and one of the 10 major fishing grounds in the Philippines. Among the protected species are big-eyed scad, mackerel, and moonfish.
He said the ban gives small pelagic fish time to regrow its population, emphasizing that extractive fishing activities would have long-term effect on the supply of fish.
According to the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on June 9, the year-on-year regional inflation of Davao Region was at 6.4% in May 2022 from 5.3 percent in April 2022.
This was the highest recorded inflation since January 2022, the agency added.
The increase in the region’s inflation was mainly brought about by the higher annual increase in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.0 percent; transport at 16.2 percent; and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services at 3.7 percent, it said.
For the food index, it increased by 7.2 percent in May from 4.9 percent in the previous month.
In addition, a double-digit increase in growth rate was observed in fish and other seafood at 8.4 percent; vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 14.2 percent; and fruit and nuts at 4.9 percent. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
0 Comments