The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) is expecting the supply and price of galunggong (round scad) to stabilize in Metro Manila’s wet markets with the lifting of the three-month “no fishing” season for the species.
The DA-BFAR opened the galunggong fishing season in northeastern Palawan on January 31, 2021, marking the sixth year since the conservation move was first implemented in 2015.
Palawan is a major supplier of galunggong in Metro Manila with an average of 95 percent of the catch being landed at the Navotas Fish Port.
“With the opening of the galunggong-rich northeastern Palawan, the supply of galunggong in the wet markets of Metro Manila is set to increase. As a result, DA-BFAR is expecting the price of galunggong and other fish commodities to stabilize in the capital region in the coming weeks,” the DA-BFAR said in a news statement issued on Tuesday.
Since 2015, the implementation of closed fishing season in Palawan has continually yielded favorable results in the production of galunggong in the area.
Based on the report of the National Stock Assessment Program of Region 4B, the catch estimates of the species caught by purse seine has increased from 402.13 metric tons in 2016 to 653.66 MT in 2019, while those caught by ringnet bumped up from 170.97 MT to 285.32 MT during the same period.
DA-BFAR National Director Eduardo B. Gongona said that this consistent and gradual increase in the catch of galunggong in the area is a welcome development in the bureau’s sustainability goal in the country’s fishery resources.
“This simply reinforces our firm decision to continue the implementation of the annual closed fishing season in the country’s major fishing grounds, which includes the galunggong-rich Palawan and integrate it in our holistic measures to fisheries management as part of the ‘One DA’ approach, which is anchored on the ‘whole of government approach’ by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration,” Gongona said.
According to DA-BFAR, fisheries management and conservation measures such as closed fishing seasons, including the one in Palawan, are among the advocacies of Agriculture Secretary William Dar for sustainability of the country’s fisheries resources. He also backed the strengthening of science-based policies and full implementation of fishery laws.
During the span of the three-month closed fishing season, the DA-BFAR’s law-enforcement group stationed in Region 4B has continuously conducted monitoring and patrol operations in the area. According to their report, only two fishing vessels were caught violating the no fishing order.
A joint initiative of the government, the fisheries sector and other stakeholders through Joint Administrative Order 1, Series 2015, the closed fishing season was initiated to protect and replenish the population of the Decapterus species, or galunggong, during its peak spawning season and regulate the use of purse seine, ringnet and bagnet in catching the fish within the conservation area northeast of Palawan from November to January every year.
Image credits: Stephanie Tumampos