Following the reopening of fishing grounds in Northeastern Palawan on Thursday, 1 February, lower prices of galunggong (round scad) may be expected as the arrival of its additional supply is anticipated in markets in the coming weeks, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said on Friday.

“We are expecting that in the next few weeks, we will increase the unloading of galunggong in our market,” BFAR spokesperson Nazario Briguera said in an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

“When the supply of our locally-produced galunggong improves, we expect that its price will also decrease because we now have additional supply.”

The closed fishing season in the said province was implemented on 1 November 2023.

Meanwhile, Briguera said that based on their regular price monitoring, no price increase was recorded for freshwater fish such as bangus (milkfish) and tilapia in 10 major wet markets in Metro Manila.

“The bangus, according to our monitoring, the medium size is between P160 to P180; that is the prevailing price. Our tilapia is at P120.”

According to data from DA’s Bantay Presyo on Friday, bangus prices range from P150 to P250 per kilo. Tilapia is in the P110 to P160 range; local galunggong is at P200 to P330; and imported is at P180 to P260. 

Meanwhile, Indian mackerel (alumahan) is registered to cost between P300 and P380 per kilo.