The Department of Agriculture (DA) will allow the entry of 25,000 metric tons (MT) of sardines and mackerel in the last quarter of the year to support supply for the three-month closed fishing season.
Closed fishing season in the country starts November 1 in waters northeast of Palawan and from November 15 in the Visayan Seas and Zamboanga Peninsula. All three areas serve as spawning grounds for small pelagic fishes like sardines and mackerel.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the imports will arrive in the country before January 15 next year of which 80 percent will be allocated to registered importers in the commercial fishing sector and the balance to fisheries associations and cooperatives.
DA said a minimum import volume (MIV) of 112 MT, equivalent to four containers, will be allocated to commercial importers while the MIV for fisheries associations and cooperatives will be 56 MT, or two containers.
Tiu Laurel said additional import volume will be determined based on an importer’s percentage share of fish landings in the last three years prior to the importation.
The DA said importers could apply for sanitary and phytosanitary permits anytime after the effectivity of the order to import fish but will only be valid between September 1 and November 30.
However, Tiu Laurel said frozen pelagic fish species could only be released to the market from October 1.
The DA said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources must encourage importers to immediately trade imported fish to ensure the supply does not overlap with local catch by the end of the closed fishing season.
