JORDAN, Guimaras – Aquaculture fishing in Guimaras rose 7.09 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 with 859.07 metric tons (MT) production, the Quarterly Fisheries Survey (QFS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
“The aquaculture fishery production in Q1 2021 is higher by 56.89 MT than the 802.18 MT produced in Q1 2020 but when compared to Q1 2019, a decrement of 6.20 percent or 53.03 MT was observed,” said Provincial Statistical Officer Nelida B. Losare.
Milkfish cultured from brackish water fishpond, fish cages, and fish pens was the major contributor to aquaculture fishing which comprised 58.72 percent of the total aquaculture. It contributed 504.44 MT to the provincial total.
Other contributors were the following:
* seaweeds chipping – 40.05 percent (344.06 MT)
* tilapia produced both from brackish and freshwater environments – 0.80 percent (6.84 MT)
* other species (oyster, catfish, mud crab, spiny lobster, white shrimp, endeavour prawn, and tiger prawn) – 3.73 MT.
Losare said aquaculture was one of the sub-sectors of Guimaras fishery which contributed one-third to the total fish production of the province for January-March while the municipal fishing accounted for the bulk sharing two-thirds of the provincial total.
“Municipal fishing during Q1 production gained 1.82 percent from 1,549.30 MT output in Q1 2020 to 1,577.51 MT in Q1 2021,” she said.
Of the total municipal fisheries output in Q1 2021, 97.90 percent came from marine fisheries and the remaining 2.10 percent were from the inland fisheries sub-sector.
In totality, Guimaras’ fish production for the first quarter of the years 2019-2021 showed erratic movements wherein Q1 2020 recorded the least production while Q1 2021 got the highest produce with 3.62 percent growth over the Q1 2020. See Figure 2.
“Production in Q1 2020 recorded at 2,351.48 metric tons is lower by 3.14 percent over its previous year level of 2,427.59 MT. Production decrement in Q1 2020 was influenced by negative outputs in all fisheries sub-sectors,” Losare said./PN
