Protest of fisherfolk in front of the Departmen of Agriculture buildig in Quezon City. Photo from Pamalakaya Pilipinas.
MANILA, Philippines — An alliance of Filipino fisherfolk on Wednesday held a protest at the Department of Agriculture (DA) to denounce another round of fish importation in June, saying this decreases the value of local fish products in the market.
The DA previously explained that this measure was greenlighted to stabilize supply and prices in light of an expected shortfall of 90,000 metric tons (MT) of fish this year.
READ: PH set to import frozen fish by June to stabilize prices
However, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) claimed that instead of continuously depending on imported fish products, the government should redirect its efforts to strengthen the support given to local fisherfolk.
“Small fishers are already beset with burdening issues such as rising cost of production due to staggering prices of fuel products. Flooding our local market with imported fish does more damage than good to our local fishing industry,” Pamalakaya national spokesperson Ronnel Arambulo said during the protest.
Aside from an observed decline in agri-fisheries production, Arambulo also noted that the increasing cost of fish products are similarly influenced by private traders controlling its “unreasonable retail prices.”
“Importation failed to stabilize retail prices of fish in the previous years because market prices are dictated by monopoly traders,” he stressed.
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