Analysis of Fishing Ports in the Philippines

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Philippine Institute for Development Studies

Policy Notes July 1999

Analysis of Fishing Ports in the Philippines Danilo C. Israel and Ruchel Marie Grace R. Roque*

No. 99-07

underutilization of existing regional ports and the potential for new fishing ports currently being planned to contribute further to the process of marine resource depletion and environmental degradation.

Profile of fishing ports in the Philippines Fishing ports include all the post-har vest facilities within a certain port area which primarily ser ve the fishing industr y and function as the main collection and distribution center of fish. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reports that as of 1997, there were a total of 447 fishing ports in the countr y (Table 1). Of this number, seven were regional ports and 440 were municipal ports. The seven regional ports include: Navotas Fishing Port Complex in Navotas, Metro Manila (NCR); ] Iloilo Fishing Port Complex in Bgy. Tanza, Iloilo City (Region VI); ] Zamboanga Fishing Por t Complex in Bgy. Sangali, Zamboanga City (Region IX); ] Camaligan Fishing Port Complex in Bgy. Dugcal, Camaligan, Camarines Sur (Region V); ] Lucena Fishing Port Complex in Bgy. Dalahican, Lucena City (Region IV); ]

F

ishing ports are critical to the full development of the Philippine fishing sector. They are necessar y for the proper unloading, selling, storing, processing and deliver y of fish to distant markets. Furthermore, as fish is highly perishable, enough port facilities are required so that post-har vest losses, currently estimated at about 20 to 40 percent of output, can be minimized. In a countr y such as the Philippines which counts fishing as one of its most important economic sectors, it bears analyzing the condition and development of its fishing ports and post-har vest facilities. The need to take a closer look is more pressing in light of the reported ———————— *The authors are Research Fellow and Research Assistant, respectively, at the Institute.

PIDS Policy Notes are observations/analyses written by PIDS researchers on certain policy issues. The treatise is wholistic in approach and aims to provide useful inputs for decisionmaking. Ms. Barbara F. Gualvez helped in repackaging this Notes based on the soon-to-be released PIDS Discussion Paper of the same title and by the same authors. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of PIDS or any of the study's sponsors.


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