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Mussel Industry Profile

Mussels, locally known as “tahong”, are bivalve mollusks, meaning they have a two-part hinged shell as an external covering which contains a soft-boiled invertebrate. In the Philippines, the well-known species is the green mussel (Perna viridis). The mussel industry is an important component of the aquaculture sector in the Philippines as mussels are a cheap source of protein, and mussel farming provides additional income and livelihood to fisherfolk in many coastal areas as it only requires little capital investment. In 2020, PSA reported a total of 19,228.96 MT production for the Philippines. Western Visayas led the mussel production with 8,534.16 MT, of which 7,945.70 MT came from the province of Capiz. Other high producing provinces are Cavite and Samar with 5,654.23 MT and 4,077.14 MT, respectively.

Problems in the Industry

The production of farmed mussels  decreased from 26,302.77 MT in 2018 to 19,229 MT in 2020. This can be traced to its low value and market demand due to the poor sanitary quality of produce and the occurrence of red tides. Furthermore, the area of its culture is limited by the existing stake culture method, which is restricted to shallow muddy areas, the crudeness of the spat transport method available, and the unpredictable supply of mussel seeds or spats. Other problems faced by the industry are inadequate supply of quality feeds and poor quality and unsafe mussel.

Data Source: Philippine Statistics Authority update as of May 30, 2024

Notes:

  • Volume of production of mussel in metric tons
  • Value of Production of mussel in thousand pesos
  • Retail Price, Fresh shells, tahong, 1 kg, (2012-based:2012-2017), peso per kilogram
  • Retail Price, Fresh shells, tahong, 1 kg, (2018-based:2018-2023), peso per kilogram

ISP for Mussel

The PCAARRD Industry Strategic S&T Program for mussel aims to help develop the mussel industry by enabling farmers to produce quality and safe cultured and processed mussel products. It will develop technologies to provide farmers with a sustainable and reliable source of quality mussel seeds and enable the expansion of production areas for mussel farming.

Strategic R&D

Strategic R&D is DOST-PCAARRD’s banner program comprising all R&D activities that are intended to
generate outputs geared towards maximum economic and social benefits

Mussel Biotechnology Program

Mussel Biotechnology Program developed high-value compounds such as shelf-stable bioactive peptides, encapsulated lipid products, and food-grade and lab-grade glycogen from...

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Technologies

Products, equipment, and protocols or process innovations developed to improve productivity, efficiency,
quality, and profitability in the agriculture and aquatic industries, and to achieve sustainable
utilization and management of natural resources

Mussel depuration system

Pre-processing is necessary to bring quality and safe mussels to the consumers. Depuration is a process of eliminating or reducing bacterial load in mussels by transferring live harvested mussels to...

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Mussel longline technology

Mussel Longline Technology is an alternative to stake method in culturing mussels. It consists of a mainline of at least 18-millimeter (mm) diameter polypropylene (PP) rope. The length of the...

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Mussel hatchery technology

One major problem that hinders the sustainability of mussel production is the reliance of the industry on seed stock from the wild.  The natural population is declining due to environmental...

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Capacity Building

Capacity building efforts of DOST-PCAARRD seek to develop and enhance the R&D capabilities of researchers
and academic or research institutions through graduate assistantships & non-degree trainings
and development and/or upgrading of research facilities

Infrastructure Development

Manpower Development

Policy Research & Advocacy

Analysis of policy concerns and advocacy of science-informed policies ensures that the AANR policy environment is conducive for S&T development
and investments

Competitiveness of Philippine Mussel Industry under the ASEAN Economic Community

The study shows that stake, longline and raft mussels, are competitive in the export trade and import substitution scenarios. Stake, longline and raft mussels are competitive internationally and have the potential to earn foreign exchange as export commodities. Concurrently, the local production costs of these mussel varieties are relatively cheaper, therefore can compete with imported commodities.

Reference:

Andal, E. G., Lapiña, G. F., Manalo, N. Q., Dorado, R. A. Valientes, R. M., & Cruz, M. B. (2017). ASEAN Economic Community: Opportunities and Challenges for the Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry Sectors. Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines: Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development – (Project Report)