GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Value of the country’s tuna exports dropped by a fifth last year from 2008, a sales dip attributed to a ban in the third quarter in the Pacific Ocean on a widely used fishing method.
Data from the regional chapter based here of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport-12) showed that the country’s tuna exports dropped 20.6% to $269.4 million last year from $339.6 million in 2008.
Exports from Central Mindanao alone amounted to $206.2 million, or three-fourths of the total, which was a 28.6% drop from 2008’s $288.7 million.
In terms of volume, the tuna industry shipped 101.7 million kilograms (kg) last year, compared with 108.3 million kg in 2008, data from the regional office of the Bureau of Customs showed.
In August to September last year, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) closed portions of the Pacific Ocean to a catching method employing fish aggregating devices (FADs) as part of a conservation measure for yellowfin and bigeye tuna species. The Philippines was one of the country’s that voluntarily observed the ban.
“The FAD closure may have something to do with the slower export performance of the tuna industry,” Philexport-12 executive director Ronnie P. Masicampo said in an interview.
Francisco J. Buencamino, Jr., Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines executive director, also attributed the lower tuna catch to a policy of Indonesia, which did not renew the bilateral fishing agreement it had with the country, forcing Philippine fishing companies to operate further into the Pacific Ocean, thus increasing costs like fuel.
Outlook for the tuna industry isn’t good either for 2010 because of WCPFC’s decision to close portions of the Pacific Ocean to purse seine fishing. The Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc., the umbrella of seven organizations in the fishing business, projected volume of tuna catch will be reduced by 20% from last year due to the ban that started Jan. 1 and which will last for two years. A review is scheduled in December. — Romer S. Sarmiento
Source: Bworldonline.com
