Fish production reduced by 40.42 percent in 4th Quarter of 2022

The total volume of fisheries production during the fourth quarter of 2022 reached 952.04 metric tons with a decrease of 40.42 percent from 1,597.91 metric tons in the same quarter of 2021. From the three subsectors, the production from Marine and Inland showed a decrease of 42.58 percent in the total production for Municipal. However, Aquaculture showed a positive result with 124.29 percent but has the second lowest percent share in the overall volume of fisheries production (Table 1).

Marine sub-sector topped total production with 96.6 percent

The marine sub-sector contributed 96.6 percent to the total fish production of the province in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Aquaculture and Inland sub-sectors have shared only 2.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively to the total output (Figure 1).

Municipal fisheries production decreased by 42.58 percent

The overall municipal fisheries production in the fourth quarter of 2022 posted a decrease of 42.58 percent. From its output of 1,577.20 metric tons down to 905.59 metric tons in the same quarter of 2022. The decrease was influenced by the decrease in Marine and Inland Municipal fisheries of 43.04 percent and 30.98 percent, respectively.

Marine Municipal fisheries production down by 43.04 percent

Production of marine municipal fisheries for the period was estimated at 864.32 metric tons with a decrease of 43.04 percent compared to its level in the same period in 2021 at 1,517.41 metric tons (Figure 2). This was influenced by lesser fishing days and trips due to limited catch and the high price of petroleum products. Further, most fishermen were not able to go fishing due to rough seas, localized thunderstorms, and increased occurrence of typhoons. As alternative livelihood, a significant number of fishermen shifted to other productive activities such as construction works, tricycle operation, and farming.  Moreover, the presence of transient fishermen from Ilocos Sur and Cagayan who were unloading their catch outside the province also posed effects on marine catch.

Spanish Mackerel, Garfish, top the list of species for marine production at 10.31 percent and 6.94 percent, respectively

The dominant species in Marine Municipal production based on the percent contribution to the total marine production are spanish mackerel (10.31%), garfish (6.94%), skipjack (6.32%), yellowfin tuna (5.64%) and rainbow runner (5.37%). Other species (65.42%) included from the top 31 species comprise big-eyed scad, leather jacket, slipmouth, goatfish, roundscad, surgeonfish, cavalla, signmaid, mullet, bali sardinella,fimbriated sardines, anchovies, parrot fish, sailfishes and Indian mackerel.

Inland fisheries production declined to 41.27 metric tons

During the fourth quarter of 2022, the total volume of inland fisheries production was registered at 41.27 metric tons.  It posted a decline of 30.98 percent from its previous year’s level of 59.79 metric tons (Figure 4).  The decrease in output was influenced by lesser fishing days in rivers and a lesser number of fishermen able to go fishing due to decrement catch, turbid water, high water level, an unfavorable strong flow of water, wood barriers in rivers and estuaries brought by successive heavy rains. Some fishermen shifted to doing construction works, tricycle operations, and farming operations while others temporarily stopped operations with no other household members engaged in fishing.

Tilapia a top species for Inland Municipal Production

Figure 5 shows the percentage contribution of the top species in Inland Municipal Production in the third quarter of 2022. The top five major catch in inland municipal were tilapia with a 38.51 percent share of the total production of inland fisheries followed by freshwater shrimp at 9.09 percent, carp at 6.94 percent, mullet at 5.29 percent, and freshwater clams at 5.11 percent.

Aquaculture production higher by 124.29 percent than in 2021

The Aquaculture production in Ilocos Norte during the fourth quarter of 2022 was estimated at 46.45 metric tons.  It was 124.29 percent higher than the output during the same period of the previous year of 20.71 metric tons as shown in Figure 6.  The overall increase was contributed by the normal culture of fish species brought by favorable intermittent rains during the quarter.  Bigger sizes of produce were primarily due to improved tilapia fingerlings from the Department of Agriculture-Local Government Unit (DA-LGU), Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN), and private hatcheries.              

Brackishwater fish cage most productive with 37.1 percent of total production

The top five Aquaculture farms that contributed to the increase in production are brackishwater fish cage with 37.1 percent, freshwater fishpond with 35.3 percent, SFR with 15.6 percent, brackishwater fishpond with 9.0 percent and freshwater fishcage with only 2.9 percent (Figure 7).

Freshwater fishpond tops production among aquaculture farms

The volume of production for freshwater fishponds exhibited greater production of all the aquaculture farms in the province.  The estimated volume of production for freshwater fishpond was 33.55 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2022, which indicates an increase of 104.65 percent compared with its previous year’s level of 16.39 metric tons. The increase in production was contributed to bigger sizes of produce due to intensive feeding and improved tilapia fingerlings from the Department of Agriculture-Local Government Unit (DA-LGU), Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) and private hatcheries.   The intermittent rains experienced during the quarter also favor growth and increased survival rate of fish species in aquaculture.

Tilapia tops the aquaculture production list with an 86.75 percent share

Tilapia dominated aquaculture production with a share of 86.75 percent. Its production in the fourth quarter of 2022 has posted 40.92 metric tons higher than 17.50 metric tons in the same quarter of the previous year. It was followed by milkfish with 7.39 percent, catfish with 2.06 percent, vannamei with 0.97 percent, and mudfish with 0.67 percent share.

(SGD) MARILYN P. VERGARA

Chief Statistical Specialist