Weather Forecast in Estancia City

Estancia, officially the Municipality of Estancia, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 48,546 people.

Estancia is located in the northern part of the province and is 131 kilometres (81 mi) from the provincial capital, Iloilo City, and 66 kilometres (41 mi) from Roxas City.

Estancia was originally a ranch for a wealthy Spaniard named Rodrigo who married a local woman. Estancia is not known for its agricultural products nor livestock but rather for its location as it is adjacent to Carles' impressive marine resources. Estancia has a fishport and a pier - these being one of the most developed in northern visayas, a banking industry, cable television, a hospital (adjacent only, that belongs to the Municipality of Balasan) and resorts.

Estancia is known around the country as a center for commercial fishing, so much so that it shares to carries the name Alaska of the Philippines with Carles. The name “Alaska of the Philippines” reflects back early 1900 up to pre World War II when major commercial fishing activities was within Carles fishing ground ( facing Estancia Town ) and small portion of Estancia water territory, with bountiful catches, running out place to process and preserve their catch ended up rotting by the beaches. Commercial fishing boats from Bantayan Cebu, Province of Capiz, Samar, Leyte, Masbate and Negros came to Carles to fish (The true Alaska of the Philippines). As a testament to its location adjacent to Carles' bountiful marine resources. The reason for this is that Carles lies in the Visayan Sea triangle, an imaginary triangle extending from the provinces of Iloilo, Negros, Cebu, Samar, and Masbate. This triangle is a part of the "Sulu-Sulaweisi Triangle" of the Sulu Sea and neighboring Indonesia where a large concentration of marine organisms coupled with climate conditions support a massive marine ecosystem. Various commercial species are harvested along Carles' waters, namely mackerel, barracuda, sardines, shad, pompano, grouper, squid, cuttlefish, shrimp, prawns, shells, seaweed and others, these all are catches from Carles' water territory and brought to fishports of Estancia and Bancal.

The method predominantly used are purse seining, trawling and gill netting as these are suited for the relatively shallow waters (up to 60 fathoms) of the Visayan Sea.

However, as of recent years, pollution, heavy overfishing, and irresponsible fishing practices have slowly diminished the once abundant fish stocks of Estancia, and now problems like diminishing catches and unpredictable weather are beginning to surface. These factors have raised awareness in the government as well as the private sector and currently an artificial reef is off the shore of Brgy Paon in an attempt to provide juvenile fish with shelter in hopes of restocking these once populous waters.