2nd WCPFC Tuna Meeting To Be Held In Manila ff

The world’s top tuna traders and policymakers will meet in August in Manila for an international conference that will tackle scientific issues affecting the sustainability of tuna stocks in the global market, Bayani Fredelusces, executive director of the Socksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries Inc. told.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will spearhead the second meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission scientific committee where at least 20 countries will participate, he added.

The commission’s scientific committee meeting was first held in New Caledonia in August last year, where several tuna management options where discussed, said BFAR director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr.

“Member countries will give recommendations to the commission on the scientific side like data collection, status of stocks and allowable catch for tuna species,” Fredelusces said.

In mid 2005, the Philippine Senate ratified the Multilateral High Level Convention (MHLC) on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

The convention is a vital international fisheries principle that sets the conservation and management of tuna resources along the Pacific fishing grounds, including the Philippines.

With the ratification, Stanley Swerdlof, senior fisheries consultant of the Growth With Equity in Mindanao program, said that the Philippines can actively take part in the formulation and implementation of measures to manage the Pacific's tuna resources.

The ratification of the convention guarantees the Philippines full membership status in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the regional body tasked to manage tuna resources in the rich Pacific fishing grounds, he said.

The commission determines total allowable catch, allocate quotas to member-countries, and regulate fishing methods.

The ratification of MHLC would augur well for the country’s tuna industry – 80 percent of which is based in this city – as it stands to benefit from catch quota allocations from the $3-billion resource in the Pacific, Mr. Swerdlof said.

MHLC is an agreement among more than 20 Pacific and European countries to efficiently manage and conserve the Pacific Ocean's tuna resources.

Of the three tropical tuna species in the Pacific grounds, bigeye and yellowfin are fished at or above maximum sustainable yield. Only skipjack tuna fisheries remain below its maximum sustainable yield.