Tuna catchers in Mati, Davao Oriental in the Philippines have started to sell their catch at the Davao Fish Port Complex. Davao Fish Port manager Carlos Hagosojos and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regional director George Campeon encouraged the tuna fishers two weeks ago to market their tuna at the fishport for a better income.
The island of Mati, strategically located near the Palau waters, is considered as a very good source of high-grade tuna and other commercial fish species.
Campeon said that Mati tuna fishermen are very cooperative and responding positively to their undertaking which redound to a good revenue for small fishermen like them. He said fishermen bring their caught tuna to the fishport by boat. Campeon said they have no figure yet on how big now is the volume of tuna being sold to the fishport by Mati fishermen who start to sell tuna early this week. “But this is a good indication that they are now cooperating with the government’s efforts for their own good,†he said.
Hagosojos earlier said in an interview with reporters that he acknowledged the great catch of high grade tuna in Mati but fishermen were just fooled by middlemen to sell the tuna for a very low price.
Instead of just earning P80 per kilo, he said, Mati fishermen now earn as high as P200 per kilo.
Hagosojos said local fishermen have the advantage with that of foreign fishers to sell their caught tuna to the fishport because they are exempted of customs tariff charge. He also said a buying station will be set up near the Mati port so as tuna fishers can easily sell their catch for a prevailing price.