Milkfish aquaculture as a regional bioeconomic system: production, governance, and sustainability in the Davao Region

Milkfish is considered to be one of the prominent products associated with the aquaculture business within the Philippines, as well as a significant source of food security within the country. The national production data are readily available; however, region-specific information, particularly within the Davao Region, requires comprehensive analysis and system-level characterization to inform production, governance, and sustainability pathways. This review frames Davao’s milkfish aquaculture as a regional bioeconomic system, defined here as the interaction of biological productivity, economic behavior of producers and markets, and governance and sustainability mechanisms that collectively shape production outcomes. The Davao Region is recognized as one of Mindanao’s strongest milkfish-producing areas, supported by favorable biophysical features, extensive coastal resources, and expanding semi-intensive pond and cage-culture operations. Drawing from peer-reviewed literature, national datasets, and regional fisheries reports, this review synthesizes the socio-biological foundations of the industry, the advancement of culture systems, production and trade trends, and the governance structures that influence development trajectories in the region, highlighting the role of public–private partnerships, national agency programs, and research and development interventions in addressing fry sufficiency and enhancing production capacity. In the bioeconomic context, the production developments in the Davao Region are seen as a function of interacting biological constraints, such as fry availability; economic incentives, such as the extent of input application and the prevailing demand in the market; and regulatory environments, such as zoning, seed management, and farm management practices. This reflects the opportunities and persistent challenges, including continued dependence on wild fry, vulnerability to climate-induced impacts such as sea-level rise and extreme weather events, and the mixed provincial growth performance. Within this framework, it gave us an overview of the Davao milkfish regional bioeconomic system and its contribution to regional economies and further underlines that adaptive governance, sustained hatchery investments, and context-specific sustainability frameworks shape long-term development of the Philippine milkfish industry.