Industry Analysis

The tilapia farming industry in the Philippines developed rapidly in the eighties with the
technologies generated by national R & D institutions for breeding and grow-out in freshwater ponds and
cages. According to Department of Agriculture on its Fisheries Commodity Road Map report as of 2008,
the total fisheries production is 4,966,889 metric tons where tilapia contributed 257,132.52 metric tons
where 154,491.85 metric tons is the total demand in the market based on 2007 Census of Population
therefore, there is an oversupply of tilapia in the country which amount 102,640.67 metric tons.
Increased tilapia production is eminent over the last five years. Region III leads the production of tilapia,
having produced a total of 124,020.15 metric tons. Fifty four percent (54 %) of the total tilapia
production for 2008 came from fresh water fishponds all over the country. Thirty four percent (34%)
produced from fresh water fish cages and nine percent (9%) came from brackish water fishponds.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority on its 2 nd Quarter Report of 2017 regarding about the
Gross National Income and Gross Domestic Product that the AHFF (Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and
Fishing), which contributed 7.8 percent to total GDP, grew by 6.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017.
This contributed 0.5 percentage point to the 6.5 percent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2017.
Fishing Industry, which contributed 15.3 percent to total AHFF, registered a 2.9 percent drop from
previous years level.

Improved employment in the Philippines, alongside the positive economic climate, saw
consumers juggling a hectic lifestyle and increasingly demanding convenient and quick meal solutions.
This in turn boosted the performance of canned/preserved food and packaging given the fact such
products are easy and fast to prepare.

The fish processing industry is important in the attainment of self-sufficiency in fish. Fish
processing prevents wastage and prolong the shell-life of highly perishable fish. It also increases the
dollar reserve of the country through exportation. The Philippine Fish Processing Industry has started out
from traditional methods and expanded into the modern fish processing. Traditional methods of
processing fish are confined to drying, smoking and salting while the non-traditional methods of
processing fish are: canning and freezing. The development of new fishery products and convenience
items in the Philippines has a brighter future. The government through the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources is exerting efforts not only on the improvement and development of fish processing
but also in the development of new fishery products in order to create awareness of the importance of
fish in the diet and to encourage the utilization of low cost and secondary species of fish.The fish
processing industry has generally grown over the past five years, with real growth of 4.8 percent per
year. The key growth drivers include the consumers' increasing demand for convenience, the growing
number of workingwomen and hence, less time for home cooking), fast-paced and changing life styles,
as well as the changing retail and distribution landscape.