The non-ratification by the Senate of a fisheries convention governing the tuna-rich Pacific fishing grounds has put the Philippines in a “disadvantageous†position in the newly established tuna commission in the Pacific as the country was merely given an observer status, local tuna industry officials today said.
Fely Lim, executive director of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing Associations and Allied Industries Inc., said the country's involvement in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission would be very limited pending the ratification of the Multilateral High Level Convention on Migratory Fish (MHLC).
The MHLC sets the conservation and management of tuna resources along the Pacific fishing grounds, which covers Philippine waters. “We lobbied for its passage last month in time for the formal opening of the tuna commission but it did not happen,†Lim told . She said they were informed by the Senate that the MHLC is “still on the table†of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Last Dec. 9 to 10, at least 18 nations officially established the tuna commission in a conference in Pohnpei, Micronesia. The meeting came two days after the seventh and last preparatory conference for the MHLC.
The Philippines was among the primary signatories to the MHLC's Convention on Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Species in the Western and Central Pacific", which was forged by at least 29 nations in Sept. 2000.
The MHLC convention specifically provides for the establishment of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission which would determine the total allowable catch of tuna species and allocate catch among its member-countries.
Ian Fredeluces, a technical assistant of the SFFAAII, said the tuna industry was represented in the meeting by two officials of the Confederation of Philippine Tuna Industries. “Their presence was officially recognized by the tuna commission but only as observers. They participated in the deliberations and discussions but they were not part of the decision-making process,†he told. Fredeluces, who is coordinating SFFAAII's participation in the MHLC issue, said the Philippines has no voting rights in any agreement or decision made by the tuna commission. He said such situation places the country "on the losing end" as it could not fully hold its position in any agreement or policy that would be decided by the commission. “The commission is still very much open to accept our ratification of the MHLC and we should do it as soon as possible and before any further decisions are made (by the tuna commission),†he said.
During last month's initial meeting, the commission agreed to regulate fishing on the high seas beyond the Pacific Island's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
President Joseph Ursemal of the Federated States of Micronesia pressed the commission to set limits on the tuna catch to conserve the region's tuna fishery. He also urged the Pacific island-nations to promote the operations of domestic fishing fleets so they could gain additional benefits aside from the fishing license fees of foreign fleets.
The MHLC was initially forged due to concerns of declining tuna resources in the Pacific seas as a result of the reported overfishing of various tuna species, especially of the bigeye and yellow fin tuna.
It cited that tuna catches in the Pacific have risen from 400,000 tons in the 1960s to over two million tons at present and with the number of tuna fishing nations rising from just eight then to the current 26.