MANILA, March 18 (Xinhua): The Philippines will build more cold storage facilities in ports to address fish spoilage, the country's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has announced.
BFAR spokesperson Nazario Briguera told reporters that the government plans to build at least 11 more cold storage facilities "on top of" those already constructed at the ports, including in the major fish landing areas in southern Philippines.
The facilities are expected to be operational by the year-end.
The bureau said the Philippines' current fish spoilage is between 25 percent and 40 percent due to the lack of post-harvest equipment like blast freezers, ice-making machines, cold storage warehouses and fish landing sites.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed that the Philippines produced about 4.34 million tons of fish in 2022, 2.16 percent higher than the output in 2021. - Xinhua
