The oil spill incident in Oriental Mindoro will not cause widespread fish shortage in the country even as the demand for seafood is expected to peak during Holy Week.

This was mentioned by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources spokesperson Nazario Briguera in a media briefing on Wednesday, as lower fish output in Oriental Mindoro and nearby provinces is expected following the leakage of oil from the sunken MT Princess Empress.

“We do not see a shortage of fish on a national scale because of the oil spill,” he said.

Briguera pointed out that the expensive fuel costs and post-harvest losses continue to be among challenges in bolstering the fishing industry but stressed that the government has been addressing these problems.

“Oil prices are fluctuating. Sometimes, it increases and affects fishing activities, so the DA-BFAR is implementing a subsidy program and utilizing payao technology for small-scale fisherfolk,” he said.

Briguera also expressed confidence that there will be sufficient fish production because fishing grounds in the country have reopened after its periodic closure that allowed fish species to reproduce.

“We are in the peak season of fishing activity, so we expect to meet the high demand for fish during the Holy Week,” he said.

Briguera said the government has also been launching post-harvest interventions to address spoilage and these include the building of 11 cold storage facilities on top of those already being constructed at various ports in General Santos and Cagayan de Oro that was announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He said these cold storage facilities are expected to be operational by the end of this year.

Based on the data of the BFAR, the current fish spoilage is between 25 to 40 percent because of shortage in post-harvest equipment like blast freezer, ice making machines, cold storage warehouses, and fish landing sites.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the country had produced about 4.34 million metric tons (MT) of fish in the calendar year 2022, which was 2.16 percent higher than the local output in 2021 and 0.16 percent higher than the DA’s target of 4.33 million MT. Robina Asido/DMS