Capiz tops oyster, mussel production
ROXAS CITY – The province topped the volume of oyster and mussel production nationwide based on the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics’ (BAS) Fisheries Statistics of the Philippines report for the period 2007 to 2008.
The two-year report has registered oyster and mussel production at 11,831.6 and 13,404.75 metric tons, respectively, despite typhoons and tidal disturbances which negatively affected the shellfish production in Western Visayas.
Production of mussel at 23,017.22 metric tons in 2008 was 14.44 percent high than the 2007 level, the report noted.
“Capiz recorded the highest output growth of 30 percent for green shell in 2008,” it said.
This was attributed to good water quality that allowed the growth of more spats and produced larger sizes of mussel, specifically, during the first quarter of 2008.
On the same report, the province ranked third in milkfish production trailing Pangasinan and Bulacan.
Milkfish is predominantly cultured in brackishwater fishponds.
Capiz has been the country’s major supplier of prawn, bangus and other seafood products apart from a surplus of agricultural products it generates every year.
The province has been blessed with a very rich fishing grounds that made it popular as the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. (PIA/A.Lumaque)
