Municipal Fisheries

The overall municipal fisheries production in Ilocos Region went down  by 17.72 percent in 4^th quarter 2020. The production was posted  at 8,346 metric tons, lower than its output in 4^th quarter 2019  of 10,144 metric tons. All the provinces contributed to the overall decrement in the volume of production. 

Marine Municipal

Production of Marine Municipal Fisheries in Ilocos Region decreased  in the 4^th quarter 2020.  Its output was posted at 7,500 metric tons, lower by 20.31 percent than the output in the 4^th quarter 2019  of 9,411 metric tons. All the provinces contributed to the overall decrement in the volume of production. 

The province of Pangasinan contributed 50.78 percent  to the region’s marine municipal fish catch for the 4^th quarter 2020.  The province recorded 3,808 metric tons, lower than the output  in 4^th quarter 2019 of 4,743 metric tons. Lesser fishing operations  due to restrictions by enforcers amid the pandemic, lesser fishing days due to gale warnings caused by several typhoons, and smaller sizes  of catch resulted to lower volume of production.

Ilocos Norte shared 19.48 percent to the total marine municipal fisheries production in 4^th quarter 2020, that is 1,461 metric tons, lower than  the output in the same level a year ago of 1,849 metric tons. Lesser fishing days and trips and lesser usage of gillnet influenced by rough seas  and high waves, smaller sizes of catch and lesser gatherers of seaweeds due to lesser demand from resorts and tourist contributed  to the decrement of output.  

La Union which shared 18.65 percent to the total marine municipal fish catch of the region in 4^th quarter 2020 posted decrement in output.  From the 1,750 metric tons recorded in the same period of 2019,  it went down to 1,399 metric tons due to decreased number of boats  in operation, smaller sizes of catch, and absence of school of fishes.  Baby trawls and other net gears also has less operations  due to rough seas and big waves caused by several typhoons.  

The province of Ilocos Sur contributed 11.09 percent to the total  marine municipal fisheries volume of production in the 4^th quarter 2020. Its production during the period went down by 22.21 percent  from 1,069 metric tons in 4^th quarter 2019 to 832 metric tons in 2020. Lesser appearance of school of fish and lesser fishing days  due to rough seas and occurrence of typhoons caused the decline  in fish catch. 

The dominant catch in marine municipal fisheries of Ilocos Region during the period were Flying fish, Yellowfin tuna, Skipjack, Cavalla,  and Grouper.

Inland Municipal Fisheries

Production of Inland Municipal Fisheries in Ilocos Region grew  by 15.54 percent in the 4^th quarter 2020. From the output  of 733 metric tons in the same period in 2019, it went up  to 846 metric tons in 4^th quarter 2020. All the provinces, except Ilocos Sur, registered positive growth in output. 

In terms of provincial distribution, the province of La Union contributed 33.60 percent to the region’s inland municipal fish catch  for the 4^th quarter 2020. The province recorded 284 metric tons,  higher than the output in 4^th quarter 2019 of 180 metric tons. More fish shelters were set up and harvested, more frequent fishing operations  due to better price of fishery products, and more gatherers of molluscs resulted to higher volume of inland municipal fish catch.

Ilocos Sur shared 31.76 percent to the total inland municipal fisheries production in 4^th quarter 2020. The 269 metric tons  output was lower than the output in the same level a year ago  of 343 metric tons. Lesser appearance of species and difficulty  of gatherings due to high water level in rivers and creeks contributed  to the decrement of output.   

Pangasinan which shared 30.55 percent to the total inland municipal fish catch of the region in 4^th quarter 2020 posted increment in output.  From the 195 metric tons recorded in the same period of 2019, it went up to 259 metric tons due to good water parameters and more catch  from newly set fish shelters.

The province of Ilocos Norte contributed 4.09 percent  to the total inland municipal fisheries volume of production  in the 4^th quarter 2020. Its production during the period went up  from 16 metric tons in 4^th quarter 2019 to 35 metric tons. More fishing days and more fishermen were able to focus on inland fishing due to lesser destructive typhoons and favorable water level.

The top five major catch in the region during the period were Freshwater goby, Tilapia, Carp, Oyster, and Mullet.