Bangus growers face cost squeeze, many feared to be exiting market
By Sheldeen Joy Talavera
THE aquaculture industry, particularly milkfish or bangus growers, is confronting the twin problems of falling demand and rising input costs, industry officials said.
“Napaka-gloomy ng kinakaharap natin sa (The outlook is gloomy for) aquaculture which I think is supposed to (play a key role in) food self-sufficiency,” David B. Villaluz, chairman of the Philippine Association of Fish Producers, Inc. told BusinessWorld via phone.
“Weak demand and the increase in our production cost because of the increase in the prices of feed” have led to members of the industry reporting losses.
He estimated that the production cost for milkfish producers has risen to P145 per kilogram from P98 to P102 previously.
Of the total cost, fish feed accounted for P135 per kilogram, based on a feed conversion ratio of 2.5 kilograms of feed to produce one kilogram of fish.
The current price of fish feed is between P45 and P50 per kilogram, up from P35 to P37 per kilogram, according to Mr. Villaluz.
Despite the increased production cost, Mr. Villaluz noted that 500 grams of fish sells for P150, down from around P180 to P200 previously.
“We can really produce. Our problem is would you produce if you are incurring losses?,” Mr. Villaluz said.
After consulting members from Mindanao, he said the average size of fish has increased to 700 grams from the usual harvest of 400-500 grams, indicating that growers are holding on to their fish “kasi hinihintay nila na tumaas-taas pa ang presyo pero pababa ’yung presyo — pabagsak e (they are waiting for prices to rise a bit, but it’s actually falling).”
“As of now, what we are afraid of here is if… our fish producers, especially our small fishpond operators, close,” he added.
Asis G. Perez, former director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and co-convenor of advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan, said weakened demand may be due to increased pork imports and the strong commercial fishing catch.
“It would appear that the demand has slowed in aquaculture. As of now, farmgate price of bangus is down by about P10 while production cost has increased,” he said in a text message.
Mr. Villaluz said climate change is affecting the industry in the form of tidal action causing rivers to overflow.
“The dikes are breaking and the water overflows if the floodwaters are high, so our fish are lost. Nawalan ’yung farmer pero nahuhuli ng fishermen natin (What the farmer loses, the fishermen catch). Siguro 70-80% ng nawala sa fishpond, nahuhuli ng mga municipal fishermen natin (The municipal fishermen catch 70-80% of what the fishponds lose),” he said.
“Ang mangyayari diyan, ang gusto ng gobyerno mag-import na lang kasi hindi nila masolusyunan ang problema ng farmers (The government is trying to solve the problem through fish imports because it can’t solve the farmers’ problems),” he added.
As of Friday, the prevailing price of milkfish in Metro Manila markets was between P140 and P240 per kilogram, while the price of tilapia was between P110 and P160 according to Department of Agriculture price monitors.
