Philippines on importation of over 8,000 million tons of frozen fish

The Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that the plan to import over 8,000 metric tons (MT) of frozen small pelagic fish has been approved, as it looks to address the potential impact of recent storms on local fish supply. In a statement, the DA said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. approved the additional importation of 8,280 MT of frozen fish, such as round scad and mackerel. The volume is on top of the 30,000-MT of frozen fish the agency has earlier approved for importation for the last quarter of 2024. Tiu Laurel said the over 8,000-MT augmentation was a needed adjustment to the earlier approved importation volume “to address the effects of Typhoons Kristine, Leon, Marce, Nika, Ofel and Pepito on the fish supply for the fourth quarter of 2024.” The DA said the decision to allow additional imports was decided on after a meeting of the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council. Meanwhile, the initial 30,000-MT fish import volume is intended to ...