The Department of Agriculture (DA) expects the sufficiency level of the fishery resources in the country to reach 92 percent this year as it undertakes efforts to boost local production.

However, the DA said actual fish supply is dependent on conditions that are currently beyond control.

“Ang (Our) security level natin ay pangkasulukuyan lang (can only depend on present circumstances). We do not inherit agriculture from our past and neither will we be recipients of the future so gusto po natin sustainable kaya po tayo may mga closures (we want it to be sustainable, that is why, we implement the closed fishing seasons),” DA director for operations Ariel Cayanan said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the closed fishing seasons in coastal waters aim to allow fingerlings to thrive and get to their adult phase before the fishers are allowed to catch within their breeding areas.

The DA gave a go signal to import 60,000 metric tons of small pelagic fishes, such as round scad (galunggong) and mackerel to meet the demands in the market for the first quarter of the year.

For the first quarter, the DA fish supply outlook data showed the sufficiency level of the fishery resources is projected at only 85 percent.

Dar earlier said the supply has been reduced due to damages brought about by Typhoon Odette to the fisheries sector last December.

Cayanan said the sufficiency level is projected at 106 percent in the second quarter as the coastal waters will be opened for fishing by that time.

However, the DA projects a decrease of 89 percent for the third quarter and 87 percent for the last quarter, bringing the annual sufficiency level stabilizing at around 92 percent. (PNA)