The volume of commercial fisheries production in Ilocos Region was posted at 624.36 metric tons in first quarter 2022. It covers 0.35 percent of the 177,143.30 metric tons output of the country during the period.

Ilocos Region commercial fisheries production was 23.32% percent higher than the production of 506.30 metric tons in first quarter 2021. The provinces of La Union and Pangasinan posted increases in production of 7.69 percent and 46.52 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Ilocos Sur registered negative growth in output by 31.37 percent.

Majority of the region’s overall commercial fisheries production in 1st quarter 2022 was contributed by Pangasinan with a total share of 61.21 Pangasinan 61.21% La Union 32.56% Ilocos Sur 6.23%  La Union shared 32.56 percent, while Ilocos Sur contributed 6.23 percent.

Roundscad has the highest volume of production among the species in the commercial fisheries. It shared 24.09 percent of the total catch. The second highest was Skipjack or Gulyasan with 46.16 metric tons output, followed by Slipmouth or Sapsap with 30.1 metric tons. There were more than 20.0 metric tons production for Frigate Tuna, Hairtail, Threadfin Bream, and Squid. Other commercial fish species have 19.0 metric tons production and below.

Commercial Fisheries Production by Province

In first quarter 2022, Ilocos Sur’s production in commercial fisheries was 38.92 metric tons. This is 31.37 percent lower than last year’s first quarter output. Bulk of the output was skipjack with a share of 78.57 percent or equivalent to 30.58 metric tons. This was followed by yellowfin tuna with share of 11.05 percent (4.30 metric tons), galunggong by 9.11 percent, and other fish species by 1.27 percent.

A total of 99.14 metric tons of commercial fisheries production was noted in the province of La Union for the first quarter 2022. Said production was 63.19 percent lower than that of first quarter 2021 output. The fish species that contributed most was Slipmouth, also known as Sapsap, with a share equivalent to 7.39 metric tons produce. Commercial fishes with more than five metric tons of production were Threadfin Bream (15.70 metric tons), Hairtail (14.26 metric tons), Squid (13.56 metric tons), and Indian Mackerel (11.24 metric tons). The production of each remaining species recorded less than five metric tons.

The province of Pangasinan remains the main contributor to commercial fisheries in the Ilocos Region covering 61.21 percent of the region’s total production in first quarter 2022. It posted 382.15 metric tons output, an increase of 46.52 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021 production. Roundscad or Galunggong has the most production with 146.84 metric tons, which comprised 38.42 percent of the total provincial output in commercial fisheries during the period. Other top species include frigate tuna, skipjack, slipmouth, and hairtail.

SGD. ATTY. SHEILA O. DE GUZMAN
Regional Director, RSSO I