3Q fishery production in Eastern Visayas drops by 11.9%

By PSA-8
December 7, 2018

TACLOBAN CITY – Fishery production in Eastern Visayas dropped by 11.9%, from 35,029 metric tons (MT) in the third quarter of 2017 to 30,865MT in the third quarter of 2018.

All provinces registered decreases in fishery production, except Biliran, the only province that recorded a slight increase of 1.8% from its level of production in the same quarter in 2018. Eastern Samar recorded the highest decrease of 25.7%, from 7,128MT in the third quarter of 2017 to 5,294 MT during the quarter in review.

Among provinces, Leyte produced the highest volume of fisheries at 9,291 MT, comprising 30.1% of the total fishery production in the region. Samar ranked second at 8,447 MT, accounting for 27.4% of the region’s total fishery production. Southern Leyte, meanwhile registered 1,222 MT, the lowest volume of production which shared 4.0% only.

By subsector, volume of production in commercial fishing went down by 19.5%, from 3,755 MT in the third quarter of 2017 to 3,024 MT in the same period in 2018. All provinces registered decreases, except Leyte and Biliran, which recorded increases of 6.6% and 4.8%, respectively. Southern Leyte recorded the highest decrease of 66.8%, from 264 MT in the third quarter of 2017 to 88 MT during the quarter in review.

Similarly, volume of production in municipal fishing (marine and inland) registered a decrease of 12.0%, from 20,351 MT in the third quarter of 2017 to 17,919 MT in the same quarter in 2018. Among provinces, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran registered growths in production of 5.1%, 4.6%, and 1.2%, respectively. However, the increases were negated by the decreases recorded by Eastern Samar (24.9%), Samar (13.4%), and Northern Samar (5.0%).

Volume of production in aquaculture also declined by 9.1%, from 10,922 MT in the third quarter of 2017 to 9,923 MT in the same period in 2018. All provinces registered decreases, except for Southern Leyte, which recorded an increase of 194.7%, and Eastern Samar, which had retained its volume of production at 6.3 MT.

More than half or 58.1% (17,919 MT) of the total fishery production in the region were from municipal fishing. Aquaculture contributed 32.1% (9,923MT), while Commercial Fishing accounted for 9.8% (3,024 MT)