Prices of round scad or galunggong and other fish commodities in Metro Manila are expected to stabilize with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources's (BFAR) lifting of the three-month closed fishing season in Palawan.
With this development, the supply of galunggong at Metro Manila wet markets is expected to increase.
“As a result, BFAR is expecting the price of galunggong and other fish commodities to stabilize in the capital region in the coming weeks,” the agency said.
The three-month closed fishing season on galunggong in northeastern Palawan was officially lifted on January 31.
Palawan is a major supplier of the popular fish in Metro Manila. An average of 95 percent of the galunggong that landed at the Navotas Port in 2020 came from Palawan.
According to BFAR, the three-month closed fishing season is annually initiated to protect and replenish the population of the Decapterus species, also known as galunggong, during its peak spawning season. It is also meant to regulate the use of purse seine, ringnet, and bagnet in catching the fish within the conservation area northeast of Palawan from November to January every year.
“Since 2015, the implementation of closed fishing season in Palawan has continually yielded significant positive results in the production of galunggong in the area,” DA-BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona said.
Based on the report of the National Stock Assessment Program of Region IV-B, the catch estimates of the species caught by purse seine has increased from 402.13 metric tons (MT) in 2016 to 653.66 MT in 2019, while those caught by ringnet rose from 170.97 MT to 285.32 MT during the same period.