AGRICULTURE Secretary William Dar's recent announcement that government is set to import thousands of tons of fish has drawn criticism from the affected sectors.
In an online briefing on Jan. 20, 2022, Dar said his agency would import 60,000 tons of pelagic fish in the first quarter of this year. Armed with numbers, he said the total fish supply projection for the quarter in metric tons (MT) is 680,000 whereas total demand for the same period, also in metric tons, is at least 800,000. There is, thus, a supply gap of 119,000 MT. He also mentioned that Typhoon "Odette," which destroyed fishing equipment in many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, had contributed to the expected shortfall in production by the local fishing industry.
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