Seafood is one of the favorite protein sources of Filipinos. The Philippine Statistics Authority said that fish is the country’s second staple food next to rice. On average, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center estimated that the mean per capita consumption of fish and fishery products in the Philippines is at 40 kilograms per year or 109 grams a day.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization noted that Filipinos generally prefer brackish water or marine finfish to freshwater fish. This would explain the popularity of fish species such as round scad or galunggong, which used to be the cheapest fish available to Filipinos. As the country’s population expands, the demand for brackish water fish species also rises, and this has led to rapid depletion of our fishing stocks.
The government has rolled out a number of measures to prevent the further depletion of the country’s marine resources. These include the implementation of the so-called closed fishing season for galunggong, which allows stocks to rejuvenate (See, “BFAR: Closed fishing season for ‘galunggong’ starts to bear fruit,” in the BusinessMirror, November 3, 2021), and the introduction of policies aimed at curbing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The declaration of closed fishing season for galunggong, in particular, has somehow allowed fishers to increase their catch, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Discontinuing this closed fishing season to increase the supply of galunggong, however, would do more harm than good. Allowing fishers to catch round scad the whole year round would undoubtedly increase supply in the short term, but this would hasten the depletion of the country’s galunggong stocks and make us more reliant on imports to boost our food supply.
While importing the Philippines’s favorite fish was unheard of two decades ago, the reality is that our own resources can no longer meet the increasing requirement of the country for food. Food production must keep pace with population growth if the Philippines is to wean itself away from imported foodstuff. And this is only possible if both the government and the citizens are willing to bear the temporary pain caused by conservation measures.
As sustainable practices would take time to bear fruit, these must be complemented by other initiatives. For one, government must promote the consumption of freshwater fish species and encourage the cultivation of other marine animals, such as shrimp. Aside from expanding output, government must help shrimp producers deal with diseases and the high cost of inputs (See, “Shrimp production seen falling to 60,000 MT,” in the BusinessMirror, November 10, 2021).
To protect the country’s shoreline and fight IUU, the government must seriously consider increasing its investments in upgrading the capabilities of agencies tasked to apprehend illegal fishers. Protecting our shoreline requires investments in surveillance and intelligence, including the latest technologies and vessels. These initiatives must be put in place to enable fisheries, which used to buoy the performance of the agriculture sector in previous years, contribute significantly to food output. That’s one effective way to strengthen the country’s food security.