Filipino Tuna Industry Gets a Break
Written by Edwin Espejo
FRIDAY, 06 APRIL 2012
Maybe a little more sashimi
Limited number of vessels allowed back into critical fishing area
Philippine tuna producers can heave a sigh of relief, at least
temporarily. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission has
decreed that the Philippines be allowed a limited number of fishing
vessels in two pockets of Western Pacific high seas for at least a year
even though several island-nations in the area were pushing for tighter
controls.
These pockets of were closed to tuna and purse seine fishing for two
years beginning in 2010. The area covers more than 306,000 square miles
of open seas south of Micronesia and north of Indonesia and Papua New
Guinea where more than 38 Philippine-flag purse seine fishing ships used
to operate.
Although the vast Pacific supports a tuna fishery worth US$1.8 billion
annually, accounting for a third of global catches, conservationists
have repeatedly warned that five of the eight tuna species are at risk
of extinction, with all three bluefin species – southern, Atlantic and
Pacific – susceptible to collapse from overfishing. The International
Union for Conservation of Nature study said seven of the 61 species of
so-called "scombrid" or billed fish, are under severe threat.
It is a threat that has dire implications for the Philippine tuna
industry, much of it centered in General Santos City at the southern tip
of Mindanao island, which is acknowledged as the country's tuna capital.
The city is host to six of the seven tuna canneries in the country, with
120,000 residents directly or indirectly dependent on the industry. The
country is the world's fourth largest producer of fresh-chilled and
canned tuna products.
In the early days of the industry, tuna could be caught just a little
over 100 meters from shore off Mindanao. Today, the closest they can be
found in volume is a good six hours from the coastal towns of Kiamba and
Maasim. On a bad trip, three weeks in the open seas off Sarangani Bay
will net a zero catch.
In 2011, because of the ban on the selected areas, total tuna landings
at the General Santos City fishing port complex dropped by 21 percent,
from 143,139.17 metric tons in 2010 to 112,891.81 MT last year. The
volume of landings of mature yellowfin tuna has also been on a steady
decline, from 33,369 MT in 2007 to a mere 9,061.13 last year.
The seas off Palau, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are areas
closest to the Philippines where local tuna fishing companies frequently
operate and further south west off the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu,
Nauru, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and parts of
Kiribati.
Opponents of the ban argue that it has had an adverse impact on
employment and the Philippine economy, especially in southern Mindanao.
The opponents say they aren't pushing for the resumption of so-called
super seiners, 70-meter giants that can land up to 200 metric tons in a
single catch by settling a large circular net around the school of fish,
then pursing the bottom together to capture them. Those vessels are
largely stationed in Papua New Guinea where two Filipino companies also
own tuna separate canning plants.
The two-year ban has clearly left the Philippine tuna industry in a
quandary, with some fishermen saying fishing must be curtailed to allow
the fishery to regenerate, with others saying fishing must continue
because of the threat to livelihoods. The volume of landings of mature
yellowfin tuna has been declining steadily in any case from overfishing.
Today more than 90 percent of raw materials for the city's six canning
plants have been sourced from either abroad or from Manila. Some
industry figures have argued that the best solution would be for the
government to pay to decommission some vising vessels to cushion the
impact of a ban. One industry figure earlier estimated that the
government would need to set aside at least P1.l2 billion (US$27.7
million) to pay to address the issue.
With the Philippine seas south of Mindanao already overfished, local
tuna producers have looked beyond the country's fishing grounds for
their operations. In the 1990s, local producers began to open up
operations in Indonesia and in Papua New Guinea. By the turn of the
millennium, several Filipino companies had already put up canning plants
in these countries known for their rich tuna fishing grounds.
But while production has declined, increased international prices of
canned and processed tuna as well as fresh chilled yellowfin exports are
keeping the Philippine tuna industry afloat. Over the last five years,
the annual export earnings of Philippine tuna have remained within the
range of US$280 million despite reduced production. Six years ago,
before fuel costs skyrocketed worldwide, the average price of a box of
skipjack was P600 (US$14) per 33-kilo box. In early 2010, it was US$48.
It is not yet clear how many of these Philippine fishing vessels will be
allowed back in the contested area but industry sources in General
Santos City say the lifting of the ban will benefit RD Fishing and
Frabelle Fishing, two of the country's largest tuna fishing fleets,
which have already established bases in Papua New Guinea and have
concession areas in Palau. The two Pacific Island nations are near these
pockets.
Although the fisheries commission lifted the ban, it is still imposing a
three-month suspension of each year on the use so-called fish
aggregating devices, which draw fish to areas where they can be netted
in large numbers. It also required all fishing vessels in the area to
allow 100 percent observer coverage on board all purse seine operations.
The next meeting of the fisheries commission, a sanctioning body with 18
members and 33 participating countries, is to be held in the Philippines
in December. The Philippines is a signatory to the conference.
(Edwin Espejo blogs for Asian Correspondent at Chronicles from Mindanao.)
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