Philippines estimates 2025 tuna catch at 230,347 metric tons

The Philippines’ tuna count landed at 230,347 metric tons, a number big enough to matter on the dock, in the canneries and in the regional management room. The Department of Agriculture’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute put that estimate on the country’s 2025 catch, and the real story is what the figure says about volume, pressure and the staying power of General Santos as the country’s tuna nerve center.

The new estimate sits 29,313 MT above the Philippines’ 2024 provisional WCPFC total of 201,034 MT, and well above the 159,555 MT provisional estimate for 2023. In the last full species breakdown, skipjack led with 115,355 MT, yellowfin followed at 79,865 MT, bigeye came in at 4,981 MT and albacore at 833 MT. That mix is the reality check behind the headline number: Philippine tuna is still being driven mostly by the workhorse species that feed fresh, frozen and canned markets, not by a broad-based surge across every tuna category.

The estimate was finalized and submitted during the 18th PTUNASTAT session under the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, where members submit scientific data annually for science-based management of highly migratory stocks. That matters because the WCPFC recorded its highest-ever tuna catch in the Convention Area in 2024, reaching 3.059 million metric tonnes. The Philippines’ own HSP1 fleet caught around 34,791 MT in 2024 from 2,564 fishing days, with 23 of 36 catcher vessels entering the high seas pocket. Those numbers show how much catch is shaped by access, effort and regional rules, not just by what is swimming in the water.

General Santos is where that math turns into livelihoods. The General Santos Fish Port Complex sits in a city where more than 200,000 people depend directly and indirectly on the fishery sector, and General Santos City is home to eight major tuna canneries, fish processors and exporters. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said in March 2025 that fishing infrastructure and the cold chain system would be upgraded, underscoring how much the industry depends on ports that can move fish fast and keep it cold.

The pressure on that system is real. After the June 8, 2026 earthquake, the Department of Agriculture ordered a more comprehensive structural assessment of the GenSan fish port, and Market Halls 1, 2 and 3 were temporarily closed. Put together, the 230,347 MT estimate is more than a clean accounting line. It signals a large, active tuna sector, but also a fishery where every gain has to be weighed against sustainability, traceability and the management burden that comes with success.