DA moves fish imports to October

The importation was previously set August to address local supply shortfalls and stabilize prices.“The fishing season has been extended due to El Niño and we have ample supply of bangus and other fish, so we will start [the importation] during the closed fishing season in October,” Tiu Laurel told reporters at the launch of an agriculture database system.A closed fishing season is an annual temporary ban on catching specific species in designated waters during peak spawning periods to protect breeding stock and allow depleted fisheries to recover.It is imposed in the Visayan Sea and Zamboanga Peninsula from November to February, and in Davao Gulf from June to August.El Niño — the warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific — has been linked to shifts in fish catch, including tuna in the Tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean and Peruvian anchoveta in the Eastern Pacific.The DA approved the importation cap on March 6 through Department Circular 12, on the recommendation of the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council which represents the fishing and aquaculture sectors.Of the 250,000 MT, 10,000 MT is reserved for the government’s Kadiwa program, with the remainder split 80-20 between commercial importers and associations or cooperatives.Imports covered by the circular include crab, lobster, prawn, shrimp, clams, mussels, octopus, oyster, scallops, sea urchin and squid, along with Alaskan pollock, anchovies, amberjack, barramundi, bigeye, capelin, cobia, cod, channel rockfish, croaker, dolphin fish, eel, emperor, flounder, fusilier, goldbanded, gourami, grouper, gurnard, haddock and hairtail.The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will issue sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances to ensure that all fish shipments are safe for human consumption and pose no risk to animal or plant health.