Central Luzon’s Total Volume of Fisheries Production Decreased by 0.4 Percent

The region’s total fisheries production decreased by 0.4 percent from 86,932.0 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 86,599.6 metric tons in the same period of 2024. The decrease can be attributed to the decline in production of commercial and municipal fisheries at 57.2 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, aquaculture fisheries production increased by 3.2 percent. (Figure 1 and Table 1)

Aquaculture Fisheries Production Rose by 3.2 Percent

The region’s volume of harvest from aquaculture farms was estimated at 74,445.0 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2024. It increased by 3.2 percent from the recorded 72,161.0 metric tons in the same period of 2023. Among fisheries subsector, aquaculture remained to be the largest contributor with 86.0 percent share to the total fisheries production in the region.

The slight increase in aquaculture production can be attributed to a 209.5% rise in freshwater cage farming, a 7.6% increase in freshwater fishponds, and a 1.6% growth in brackishwater fishponds. Conversely, decreases were observed in freshwater pens, brackishwater cages, seaweed, oysters, mussels, marine cages, and small farm reservoirs. (Figure 2 and Table 2)

Municipal Fisheries Production in Central Luzon Decreased by 9.3 Percent

Central Luzon’s total production of municipal fisheries decreased by 9.3 percent from the 12,188.6 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 11,049.4 metric tons in 2024. (Table 1)

Marine municipal fisheries production decreased by 8.2 percent from the estimated 4,739.8 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2023. Similarly, inland municipal fisheries production declined by 10.1 percent or 752.5 metric tons from the 7,448.9 metric tons in 2023 to 6,696.4 metric tons in 2024. The total municipal fisheries production in Central Luzon contributed 12.8 percent to the overall fisheries production, with 5.0 percent from marine municipal fisheries and 7.7 percent from inland municipal fisheries. (Figure 3, and Tables 3 and 4)

Commercial Fisheries Production Declined by 57.2 Percent 

The volume of production in commercial fisheries exhibited a significant decline of 57.2 percent or 1,477.2 metric tons from the 2,582.4 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 1,105.2 metric tons in the same period of 2024. (Figure 4 and Table 5)

ARLENE M. DIVINO
Regional Director
PSA RSSO 03
 

STATISTICAL TABLES

TECHNICAL NOTES

The Fisheries Production Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is divided into four (4) major fisheries surveys. These are the Quarterly Commercial Fisheries Survey (QCFS), Quarterly Municipal Fisheries Survey (QMFS), Quarterly Inland Fisheries Survey (QIFS), and Quarterly Aquaculture Survey (QAqS). 

The QCFS gathers information on the volume and price of species unloaded in the landing center.  It covers fishing operations in marine waters beyond 15 kilometers from the shoreline by fishing boats with more than three (3) gross tons.  In Central Luzon, QCFS is conducted in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, and Zambales.

The QMFS also gathers information on the volume and price of species unloaded in the landing center. However, unlike QCFS, it covers fishing operations performed in marine waters within 15 kilometers from the shoreline using fishing vessels of three (3) gross tons or less, or fishing not requiring the use of fishing vessels.  In Central Luzon, QMFS is conducted in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Zambales.  

The QIFS gathers information on volume and price of species caught by inland fishing household.  Inland Fisheries covers fishing operations performed in inland bodies of water using fishing vessels of three (3) gross tons or less, or fishing not requiring the use of fishing vessels. QIFS is conducted in all provinces in Central Luzon.   

The QAqS gathers information on volume and price of species harvested in the aquafarms.  Aquaculture volume of production refers to aquaculture species harvested from the aquafarm that is in marketable size and in fresh form. Species harvested which will be used as input to another culture activity are not considered.  In Central Luzon, QAqS is conducted in all provinces. 

The sampling frames for the surveys of commercial and municipal fisheries were established in 2000 through a nationwide listing of landing centers (LCs). Updating of the lists was conducted over the years. The design used was a two-stage stratified random sampling with the landing centers as the first-stage sampling units and the fishing boats as the second stage sampling units. The landing centers were stratified based on volume of fish unloaded. However, starting second quarter of 2022, the redesigned QMFS utilized the 2021 Listing of Marine Fish Landing Centers (LMFLC) as the sampling frame and new sample selection procedure. The province was the domain of the survey. 

Inland municipal fisheries included fishing activities in inland bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, dams, marshes, swamps, etc. The unit of enumeration for QIFS is the household engaged in inland fishing. 

For aquaculture survey, the lists of brackishwater fishponds, freshwater fishponds, freshwater fish pens/fish cages, marine fish pens/fish cages, oyster/mussel and seaweed farms by province served as the sampling frames. Updating of list frames for aquaculture was done simultaneously with the landing center during the previous years. 

The reference and enumeration periods by survey round are as follows: