PRESS RELEASE

01 FEBRUARY 2016 

DA-BFAR OPENS GALUNGGONG CLOSED SEASON IN PALAWAN 

The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) announced on Monday, February 1, the end of the first closed season for galunggong (round scad) in waters off northeastern Palawan, saying fishing activities may now resume on the said fishing ground.

The three-month closed season for galunggong, which began in November last year, is an initiative by both the fishing sector and the government through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and DA-BFAR, to secure increased and long-term supply of the said fish species.

“We are glad to note the fishing operators were fully engaged during the data gathering, planning, and actual implementation of the closed season. We are also optimistic that we will be able to replicate in Palawan the successes we had from previous closed seasons in the Visayan Sea, Davao Gulf and Zamboanga Peninsula,” Agriculture Undersecretary for Fisheries and BFAR national director Asis G. Perez said.

Once a very popular source of fish protein among Filipino households, the volume of galunggong declined in recent years. Even round scad-rich Palawan has also suffered the drawback. Production data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed a 40% decrease of galunggong caught in the waters of Palawan and landed in Navotas from 2002 to 2012. BFAR’s National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) has likewise indicated overfishing of galunggong on the said fishing ground.

Perez said this prompted the government to implement the closed season, the same conservation measure which was earlier used to protect sardines and other pelagic species during their spawning period.

As a means to cover the supply of fish during the implementation of the closed seasons in several of the country’s fishing grounds, Perez said, the government is intensifying its support for the aquaculture subsector. In fact, in the newly updated Comprehensive National Fisheries Industry Development Plan (CNFIDP) 2016-2020, which the fisheries stakeholders crafted in the last quarter of 2015, the aquaculture subsector has laid out its targets and action plans to improve and augment production among other things for the next five years.

Perez said the agency maintains equally sturdy support for the other three fisheries subsectors—post-harvest, marketing and capture fisheries, in which the closed seasons are implemented.

Meanwhile, BFAR together with the fisheries industry is set to launch CNFIDP 2016-2020 during the National Fisheries Industry Summit on February 3, 2016 at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City.

###

Reference:

ATTY. ASIS G. PEREZ

DA Undersecretary for Fisheries

BFAR National Director

Thru

BFAR-Information and Public Relations Group

(02) 454-5863/366-8535

0917-8914233