Central Luzon’s Total Volume of Fisheries Production Decreased by 15.1 Percent

The region’s total fisheries production decreased by 15.1 percent from 58,585.4 metric tons in the third quarter of 2023 to 49,767.5 metric tons in the same period of 2024.
The decrease can be attributed to the decrease in municipal and aquaculture sectors at
21.0 percent and 14.5 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, commercial fisheries production increased by 39.6 percent. (Figure 1 and Table 1)

Aquaculture Fisheries Production Declined by 14.5 Percent

The region’s volume of harvest from aquaculture farms was estimated at 39,751.1 metric tons in the third quarter of 2024. It decreased by 14.5 percent from the recorded 46,514.7 metric tons in the same period of 2023. Among fisheries subsector, Aquaculture remained to be the largest contributor with 79.9 percent share to the total fisheries production in the region.

The decrease in the volume of aquaculture production can be attributed to the decrease in brackishwater cage (-80.0%), oyster (-57.8%), and brackishwater pen (-53.6%). Likewise, decreases in mussel, freshwater pen, marine cage, seaweed, small farm reservoir, and freshwater fishpond were also recorded. (Figure 2 and Table 2)

Municipal Fisheries Production in Central Luzon Declined by 21.0 Percent

Central Luzon’s total production of municipal fisheries declined by 21.0 percent from the 11,285.5 metric tons in the third quarter of 2023 to 8,920.6 metric tons in 2024. (Table 1)

Marine municipal fisheries production decreased by 20.7 percent from the estimated         4,276.9 metric tons in the third quarter of 2023. Likewise, inland municipal fisheries production declined by 21.1 percent or 1,477.5 metric tons from the 7,008.7 metric tons in 2023 to
5,531.2 metric tons in 2024. The total municipal fisheries production in Central Luzon accounts to 17.9 percent to the total fisheries production, with 6.8 percent from marine municipal fisheries and 11.1 percent from inland municipal fisheries. (Figure 3, and Tables 3 and 4)

Commercial Fisheries Production Grew by 39.6 Percent 

The volume of production in commercial fisheries grew by 39.6 percent from the 785.2 metric tons in the third quarter of 2023 to 1,095.8 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.