Philippines Fiercely Hoping For Extension Indonesian Tuna Pact ff
29 July 2005
Philippines
The Philippines’ capability to maintain operational modern fishing fleets will play a major role in Indonesia’s decision whether to extend or end a bilateral fishing agreement it forged with the Philippine government three years ago, a fishery official here said.
Sani Macabalang, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Region 12, said the high-level negotiations for the extension of the fishery pact, which gives local fishing companies access to Indonesia's tuna-rich fishing grounds, are still in the balance.
However, he said “the extension is being pushed aggressively by the government and right now our negotiating team is ironing out some issues with their (Indonesian) counterparts,†he told reporters.
The negotiations for the extension of the bilateral agreement, which expires in December, is led by a high-level team composed of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and BFAR and representatives from the National Tuna Industry Council.
Macabalang said that while Indonesia has made public about its decision not to grant new bilateral fishing agreements with the Philippines and other countries, it has also acknowledged that it does not have enough fishing fleet to operate in its vast territorial waters.
He said Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) stretches at least 200 miles and covers a portion of the so-called tuna belt.
â€This is where we are coming in right now. (Indonesia) identified the Philippines’ fishing fleet as one the most capable and hopefully we can make some concessions out of this advantage,†he said.
This city, which is considered as the country’s tuna capital, is home to the country’s biggest tuna fishing companies that presently deploy purse seine and long line fishing vessels to Indonesia and the Pacific seas.
Local officials and tuna industry players, led by the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing Associations and Allied Industries Inc., had raised serious concerns over the looming expiration of the bilateral agreement, citing that the area’s tuna industry depends much on the operations of local fishing fleet in the Indonesian waters.
These fishing companies, which have an average of more than 1,000 metric tons of fish daily, supply the bulk of the area’s tuna landings that are primarily delivered to the seven tuna canneries based in this city.
