A 5-percent growth in production for the fisheries subsector for 2009 is feasible despite the destruction caused by two recent typhoons, an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Bfar) said yesterday.

Bfar Assistant Director Gil Adora, who is currently officer in charge of the bureau, said a 5-percent production growth is “very much realistic.”

“Our conservative estimate is that the [fisheries subsector] will grow by 5 percent. But if you talk to fishing operators in Pangasinan, they will even tell you that an 8-percent production growth is achievable,” said Adora in the vernacular during a telephone interview.

Despite the flooding of fishponds caused by typhoon Pepeng in Pangasinan, the bangus capital of the Philippines, Adora said the province can very well supply the requirements of Metro Manila for bangus this holiday season.

“Based on standing stocks, Pangasinan can deliver up to 12,000 metric tons [MT] of bangus to Metro Manila until December,” he said, noting that fish operators can deliver anywhere from 100 MT to 150 MT of bangus to Metro Manila from now until the end of the year.

While damage to the fisheries sector in Pangasinan due to typhoon Pepeng was placed at 6,000 MT, Adora said not all of this volume was lost and that fish pond operators were able to recover part of this volume.

Also, he said some fishing operators had resorted to the early harvest of their stock to save their produce from Typhoon Pepeng.

“Typhoon Pepeng was destructive but our  fishing operators in Pangasinan already know how to deal with storms. Some of them were able to recapture [fish] that escaped from their ponds,” said Adora.

To help fishing operators who were adversely affected by typhooon Pepeng, Adora said the Bfar is setting aside P40 million to fund a package of assistance.

He said the focus of the assistance is stock replenishment. This will ensure that enough fish will be available for the first quarter of 2010.

Aside from Dagupan in Pangasinan, Adora said the fisheries industry in La Union and Ilocos Norte were also affected by typhoon “Pepeng.”

For January to June this year, the fisheries subsector’s production grew by 4.9 percent this year. The fisheries subsector accounted for 27.62 percent of total farm output for the period.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (Bas) noted that commercial fisheries production grew 10.41 percent in the first half of the year. Aquaculture output grew by 4.3 percent while municipal fisheries production inched up by 0.81 percent.

The fisheries subsector has become a major growth driver of farm output in recent years.