Extreme Weather Affecting Fish Farmers Globally

In the Philippines, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has announced it will provide fish farmers with fingerlings following fish losses after a recent monsoon.

Typhoons "Ferdie" and "Gener" caused heavy rain and flooding across the Philippines, affecting 3000 fishermen and fish farmers in Luzon alone.

In Luzon, flooding caused the loss of P377 million worth of bangus, tilapia, prawns, shrimps and mudcrabs, and damaged P10 million worth of fishpond infrastructure, small fishing boats, and fishing equipment.

Fishermen and fish farmers in Hong Kong are to be compensated after typhoon Vicente helped to cause a spillage of 150 tons of plastic pellets which have been consumed by fish.

Fish farmers stated how their fish have been refused at market due to the pellets.

The fisheries department stated that compensation may not be cash and that the priorities are to clean up the pellets and evaluate the impacts.

Following the 31 July FishSite Newsletter, the drought in the US is still continuing.

The latest WASDE figures state that soybean production for 2012/13 is projected at 2.7 billion bushels, down 358 million due to lower harvested area and yields. These figures clearly show the devasting global impact the drought will have on fishfeed prices.

In response to the drought, the US government has announced it will purchase $170 million worth of meat, including catfish, to help reduce the pressure on US farmers and to stabilise the market.