THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is looking at the possibility that a fish cartel could have contributed to the high prices of fish in recent months.
In a forum on Wednesday BFAR Assistant Director Sammy A. Malvas said they have received reports that prices of fish tended to rise significantly after these are brought
to shore.
He said, as an example, if round scad catch would cost P100 per kilo from the boat, prices would increase to around P120 to P140, or even P160 per kilo, when it reaches wet markets.
“We are looking at the interference of unnecessary layers,” Malvas said.
“Maybe there are two or three more layers that are unnecessary. Fish catch is passed from one middleman to another until it reaches the wet market,” Malvas added, in a mix of English and Filipino.
Malvas said removing unnecessary layers will bring down fish prices. Some traders, who do not have capital and actually just “whisper,” are often the cause of higher prices because they have higher profit margins.
Malvas told the Lido Cocina forum in Quezon City that the BFAR will also determine how feasible it is for fishermen to bring their produce directly to wet markets to minimize the pass-on cost to consumers.
Laban Konsyumer Inc. President Victor Mario A. Dimagiba said they received information that there are seven market layers in the trade of vegetables. Dimagiba said these layers are the farmers, disposers, consolidators, middlemen, wholesalers and two layers of retailers.
He said if a kilo of cabbage could cost P20 at the level of the farmer, this will increase by a peso to P21 at the hand of the disposer, and further rise by P3 to reach P24 at the level of the consolidator.
Once the kilo of cabbage reaches the middlemen, this will increase by P10 and cost P34; wholesaler, P5 to P39; retailer, P20 to P59; and the last retailer nearest the consumer such as a community wet market or talipapa, P10 to P69.
“So nakita ninyo ’yung kawawang P20 na kilo ng repolyo or cabbage, abot na siya ng P69 [So you see the poor P20 per kilo cabbage ended up costing P69],” Dimagiba said.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the BFAR said the decision of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allow the importation of round scad will help stabilize market prices.
The DA-BFAR recently allowed the importation of fresh/chilled/frozen round scad to augment the local supply in the fresh markets. The 17,000 metric tons will be allocated for Metro Manila and will be composed of imports from China.
However, the BFAR assured the public that the imported round scad will go through stringent Sanitary Phytosanitary measures. Malvas said the procedure involves sampling shipments and testing them for harmful substances, including formalin and mercury.
“[The] general consuming public is assured that the imported round scad will be unloaded only in BFAR-accredited cold-storage facilities and will undergo thorough inspection to ensure that the fish commodity that will enter Philippine markets are safe and free of harmful substances,” the BFAR said.
The importation of round scad shall take effect on September 1, 2018, and shall be in effect until 90 days thereafter.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza