By Marita Moaje
MANILA – Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel on Tuesday said the decision to import an additional 8,280 metric tons (MT) of small pelagic fish was made to stabilize domestic supply during closed fishing season from November to March.
He said the supplementary volume of fish imports, which will be on top of the 30,000 MT imported from Vietnam and China, will also address the impact of the recent series of typhoons on the supply of fish in the market.
“May end date din yun na must arrive date, latest January 30. Kasi ang close season natin ay January 30 sa Palawan pero ang close season sa Zamboanga hanggang end of February (It also has an end date in which it must arrive, the latest January 30. Because our close season is January 30 in Palawan, but the close season in Zamboanga is until the end of February),” he said in a media interview on the sidelines of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo Expo at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Laurel said the import of an additional small pelagic fish was made following a meeting with the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (NFARMC) and the DA.
Meanwhile, Laurel said the country has a stable rice supply, with importation expected to hit 4.5 million tons this year.
“As far as bigas is concerned, and then kakaharvest lang, although medyo may tama talaga tayo sa maraming bagyong dumaan. Ang estimates namin ngayon, last year 20.04 million tons yata, ang latest estimate namin ngayon is 19.3 million na lang, and baka bumaba pa dahil sa mga bagyo (As far as rice is concerned, we have just harvested, although the recent storms really affected us. Our current estimates, last year was 20.04 million tons, our latest estimate now is only 19.3 million, and it may even decrease due to typhoons),” Laurel said.
On the pork supply, Laurel said there were no significant changes as African swine fever (ASF) has been “more or less” contained and stocks of pork and even chicken remain sufficient. (PNA)
