DA chief mulls more fish harvest control to revive 'overexploited' seas

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Tuesday raised the possibility of further enhancing fish harvest control as he noted that the country’s fisheries resources are nearly depleted.

"For deep sea fisheries, commercial fisheries like galunggong, sardines, unfortunately, I have to say we have to relax or reduce fishing efforts because it’s nearly depleted and overexploited,” Tiu Laurel said at a news forum in Taguig City.

“In order to have more fish in the future, we have to control our harvest and time area closures to revive our fishing grounds,” the agriculture chief said.

Every year, the government through the DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources implements closed fishing seasons in Philippine waters such as the Visayan Sea, off the coast of Zamboanga Peninsula and Palawan to allow fish species to reproduce.

The DA chief said the overexploitation of fisheries in the country was not only caused by commercial fishing but also municipal fishing as well as illegal fishing practices such as dynamite and cyanide use.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed fisheries production in the country declined by 0.5% to 987,190 metric tons in the first quarter of 202 from 992,330 metric tons in the same period last year.

For the entire 2023, fisheries production declined to 4.26 million metric tons from 4.34 million in 2022.

The DA chief pointed to aquaculture to offset the gaps in fisheries caused by “overexploitation” of the seas.

“We need aquaculture… we have shrimp, we have tilapia, we have bangus... pompano," Tiu Laurel said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News