Western Visayas fisheries output jumps 41.5% in Q4 2025 – PSA

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Western Visayas hauled in an estimated 110,993 metric tons of fishery output in the fourth quarter of 2025.

That’s 41.5% higher – roughly 32,561 metric tons more – than the same quarter in 2024, based on a Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Statistical Services Office VI (PSA RSSO VI) special release dated Feb. 10, 2026.

PSA pointed to two things doing most of the pushing: aquaculture and municipal fisheries. Aquaculture jumped 61.8%, municipal fisheries rose 17.4%, and commercial fisheries moved the other way, shrinking 34.1%.

Marine municipal fishing is defined as operations done without a boat or with a boat of three gross tons or less, while commercial fishing covers operations using boats of more than three gross tons.

PSA said inland municipal fishing covers catching fish and other aquatic species in inland water bodies such as lakes, rivers, dams and marshes, and it noted that aquaculture volume refers to harvested or to-be-harvested species during the quarter in fresh form and marketable size, while municipal and commercial volume refers to unloading in the entire landing center during the quarter.

Aquaculture pretty much dominated the mix as it accounted for 81.6% of the region’s total fisheries volume for the quarter. Municipal fisheries made up 11.6%, and commercial fisheries came in at 6.8%.

Inside the municipal numbers, it’s mostly coastal. PSA RSSO VI broke municipal production down as 98.2% marine and 1.8% inland.

The PSA data basically shows the same story in a simpler snapshot: total volume at 78,432 metric tons in fourth quarter 2024, then 110,993 metric tons in fourth quarter 2025 – again tagged as 41.5% higher year on year.

For aquaculture, the PSA put regional output at 90,557 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 55,957 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Three provinces were credited for that aquaculture lift, and Capiz was the big one. PSA said Capiz held an 81.6% share and expanded by 168.9%. Guimaras, with a 1.0% share, grew 12.4%, and Aklan, with a 0.8% share, increased 18.1%.

In actual volume, PSA RSSO VI listed aquaculture output at 73,915 metric tons in Capiz (from 27,483), 919 metric tons in Guimaras (from 818), and 727 metric tons in Aklan (from 615).

Not everyone went up. PSA RSSO VI said aquaculture dropped in Antique, which still had a 14.4% share but fell 47.3%, and in Iloilo, which had a 2.2% share and slipped 15.4%.

Put another way, the PSA listed aquaculture output at 13,022 metric tons in Antique (from 24,707) and 1,975 metric tons in Iloilo (from 2,334).

Municipal fisheries production for the quarter was placed at 12,833 metric tons, up from 10,930 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Most of that municipal production was marine. PSA RSSO VI said marine municipal output climbed 18.9%, or about 1,999 metric tons, to 12,598 metric tons from 10,599 metric tons.

PSA RSSO VI reported marine municipal gains in Antique (a 37.2% share, up 6.6%), Aklan (a 23.8% share, up 68.6%), Iloilo (a 20.3% share, up 22.1%) and Guimaras (a 7.4% share, up 18.2%).

By volume, marine municipal output was at 4,684 metric tons in Antique (from 4,395), 3,004 in Aklan (from 1,782), 2,552 in Iloilo (from 2,091), and 929 in Guimaras (from 786).

Capiz was the outlier on the marine municipal side. PSA RSSO VI said Capiz (with an 11.3% share) slipped 7.6%, landing at 1,428 metric tons from 1,545 metric tons.

Then there’s inland municipal fishing, which went the opposite direction. The PSA reported 236 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 331 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2024—a 28.8% decrease.

In the same section, the agency described the drop as “about 95.19 metric tons less than the 23 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2024,” and it listed the provincial shifts alongside the decline.

Capiz (a 44.5% share) decreased 56.0%, Iloilo (a 7.6% share) shrunk 15.0%, Antique (a 5.8% share) declined 36.1%, and Guimaras (a 5.0% share) lessened 56.6%, while Aklan (a 37.1% share) grew 282.0%.

By volume, the PSA listed inland municipal output at 105 metric tons in Capiz (from 239), 18 in Iloilo (from 21), 14 in Antique (from 21), 12 in Guimaras (from 27), and 87 in Aklan (from 23).

Commercial fisheries production in the fourth quarter of 2025 was estimated at 7,602 metric tons, down from 11,544 metric tons a year earlier.

PSA RSSO VI said the commercial subsector’s decline was 34.1%, or about 3,942 metric tons less than in the fourth quarter of 2024, and it pointed out that Iloilo was the only province that recorded an increase.

Provincial figures show commercial fisheries output at 2,515 metric tons in Iloilo (from 2,416, up 4.1%), 2,293 in Antique (from 2,691, down 14.8%), 1,752 in Capiz (from 4,374, down 60.0%), and 1,043 in Aklan (from 2,064, down 49.5%).

The report noted that Guimaras is the only province in Western Visayas with no commercial fisheries landing center, the place where catch and aquatic products are unloaded and/or traded.

As for what’s actually showing up the most in the catch, the PSA infographic’s top five species by volume for the quarter were milkfish (76,076 metric tons), seaweed (13,072 metric tons), big-eyed scad (1,633 metric tons), squid (1,392 metric tons), and fimbriated scad (1,329 metric tons).

On the money side, the PSA reported total fisheries value of production at PHP 13.07 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with PHP 7.02 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The agency described that as an 86.2% increase, or about PHP 6.05 million higher than the year-earlier quarter.

In the release’s value table, total fisheries value was listed at PHP 13,073,305.86 (‘000) for fourth quarter 2025 and PHP 7,020,213.04 (‘000) for fourth quarter 2024.

The PSA said aquaculture, with a 77.6% share of total value, expanded 159.3%, while municipal fisheries, with a 14.1% share, inclined by 19.89%, and commercial fisheries, with an 8.3% share, contracted 30.6%.

The same table listed aquaculture value at PHP 10,139,460.08 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2025 versus PHP 3,909,806.57 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2024.

Municipal fisheries value was listed at PHP 1,842,421.76 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2025 versus PHP 1,538,204.99 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2024.

Within municipal value, the PSA listed marine municipal at PHP 1,815,934.68 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2025 versus PHP 1,499,769.91 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2024, and inland municipal at PHP 26,487.08 (‘000) versus PHP 38,435.08 (‘000).

Commercial value was listed at PHP 1,091,424.02 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2025 versus PHP 1,572,201.48 (‘000) in fourth quarter 2024.