Expect lack of bangus, higher prices - BFAR

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Expect higher prices and shortage of bangus (milkfish) as heavy flooding has affected 80 percent of bangus and tilapia production in Central Luzon, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said yesterday. 

Nestor Domenden, BFAR-Region 1 director, told The STAR it would take six months before the affected fishponds could have new produce.

A check Domenden made yesterday in the Navotas market where the big bulk of bangus is traded showed that a kilogram costs P90, something which has not happened since massive fish kills in Batangas and Pangasinan last June.

Domenden said Central Luzon contributes about 40 tons of bangus daily to the Navotas fish market.

“Consumers will surely cry foul but they must also understand that for quite sometime, producers can hardly have profits because of the abundant supply of bangus,” he said.

He added Region 1 (Ilocos) has always been sufficient in bangus production despite the typhoons because fish cages there use the right technology to cope with water abnormalities and are doubly protected by earth dikes.