Without the tuna industry, General Santos City would just be like a speck in the order of things, providing insignificant contributions to the national economy.
In and off the country, GenSan, as this city is popularly known, is closely associated with tuna as far as the Philippines is concerned.
It thus earned the moniker “Tuna Capital of the Philippines.†There’s no question to the title but industry stakeholders should not be too complacent as if everything is already in place, or as if the stars will forever shine in on them.
This writer obtained a copy of this year’s profile of the tuna industry, which is yet to be publicly available.
It outlines the problems confronting the sector and policy recommendations for consideration by the public and private players.
Ramon Fredelusces, a local government economist, prepared the profile also supposedly meant to avert the meltdown of the industry valued by Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban at about US$420 million.
Fredelusces recommended the following policies to sustain the tuna industry:
Institute and strictly implement conservation efforts particularly in the Sarangani Bay area to provide sustenance fishermen access to closer rich fishing grounds;
Train fishermen in handling tuna fish (right from catching to transport) to ensure quality and thereby derive better prices;
Provide financial access to municipal fishermen to improve gears and equipment, methods and over all productivity; and,
Encourage processing in the area but not limited to fish canning, to maximize the use of fish catch.
On the other hand, the constraints that pose danger to the tuna industry, according to the profile, are as follows:
* Expiration of Fishing Bilateral Agreement Between Indonesia and Philippines (Supposed to expire on December 31, 2005 but extended for one year and will expire on December 31, 2006)
* Increasing distance of the fishing grounds which automatically translates into higher cost of operation, particularly fuel;
* High cost of inputs;
* Neglect of government agencies on the plight of small fishermen for sustenance in all forms of support; and,
* Lack of fishing ground understanding between neighboring countries.
Industry players, especially the big ones, are not so much concerned about these constraints except the rising costs of diesel fuel prices over the last few years.
Marfenio Tan, president of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc., had been repeatedly pointing out that the tuna producers’ operational cost soared after diesel oil breached the P30 per liter mark.
He noted that diesel fuel and petroleum-based lubricants easily eat up around 40 to 60 percent of the cost per trip of a 1,000-ton tuna purse seine fishing vessel.
He said that at an average, a four-day tuna fishing expedition could use up about 10,000 to 15,000 liters of diesel fuel or equivalent to a maximum of P465,000, at P31 per liter.
This means the expenses for a regular fishing trip of a local fishing vessel reach around US$600 to US$700 per metric ton, according to him.
Mr. Tan had called on the government to subsidize at least one peso per liter of the fuel expenses in fishing expeditions, which thus far has yet to be acted upon.
Despite the predicament facing the industry, the local tuna industry had matured, particularly the organization of the players, the profile shows.
Industry players and their contributions
The major players in the industry had organized their groups such as the South Cotabato Purse Seiners Association (Socopa), Southern Philippines Boat Owners and Tuna Association (SPBOTA), Tuna Cooperative of General Santos, Umbrella Fish Landing Association, Tuna Canners Association of General Santos, Chamber of Aquaculture & Ancillary Industries of Sarangani, Inc., and Fresh Frozen Seafood Association of the Philippines.
These groups formed the umbrella organization Socsksargen Federation of Fishing Association and Allied Industries, Inc, presently headed by Mr. Tan.
The industry, in fact, looks like web.
It is primarily composed of six components, namely the large purse seiners (more than 250 gross tonnage), small medium purse seiners (less than 250 GT), handline fishery or the pump boat operators, tuna canneries, fresh & frozen tuna processors, and fresh tuna exporters.
The large purse seine group, consisting of about 70 fishing vessels and approximately 350 service boats, is fishing outside Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. It catches small skipjack and yellowfin tuna, and sells to the tuna canneries its frozen fish catch. This group provides about 3,000 fishing jobs. Major players of the large purse seiners are members of SPBOTA.
These are the Amadeo Fishing Corporation, Damalerio Fishing Enterprise, DT Fishing Industries/TSP Marine Industries, RD Fishing Industry, Inc., SAL Fishing Corp., and San Andres Fishing Industry, Inc.
The small to medium purse seine group, consisting of more than 1,000 catcher vessels and service boats, is fishing in both Philippine and Indonesian waters.
It catches small skipjack and yellowfin tuna, and supplies fresh tuna to canneries and to the domestic market. It supports about 10,000 fishing jobs.
The handline fishery sector is composed of about 2,500 vessels and employs approximately 30,000 crews. They are fishing in both Philippine and Indonesian waters using the traditional hook-and-line method. It catches large yellowfin and bigeye tuna, and sells to frozen sashimi processors and to the domestic market.
Six of the eight tuna canneries in the country are located in General Santos City. Over 80% of their production is exported to the United States of America and Europe. The canneries generate about US$ 180 million in exports earnings and support about 10,000 jobs.
The canneries are the Alliance Tuna International, Inc., Celebes Canning Corp., General Tuna Corp., Ocean Canning Corp., Philbest Canning Corp., and Seatrade Development Canning Corp.
Of the 15 processing plants in the country, 10 are located here. One hundred percent of its production is exported to the US and Europe. It generates about US$ 50 million in export earnings and supports about 2,500 jobs.
The fresh tuna exporters, on the other hand, sell high-grade sashimi to the United States, Japan and Europe.
The tuna industry is boosted by the presence of facilities like the airport, wharf and the fish port complex. The General Santos Fish Port Complex is the 8th fish port complex in the Philippines. The construction of the complex was funded by the Overseas Economic Cooperative Fund (OECF) of Japan. The 32-hectare fish port complex here is the nation's second largest fish port after Navotas, and considered the most modern in the country today. The construction started last December 1994 and finished in March 1999.
Currently, the fish port complex is undergoing expansion to cater the growing industry of the city and to provide services with utmost efficiency. The expansion includes: Wharf 1, Wharf 2, Cold Storage, Sewerage Treatment Plant, Water Supply System and Substation and Power Supply System.
Mr. Fredelusces said the expansion works is about 64 percent complete.
Market performance
The major tuna export destinations are China, Middle East, Taiwan, Hongkong, Japan, Korea, Canada, United States of America, and Europe.
The highest export performance of canned, fresh and frozen tuna from 2002 to 2005 was in year 2004 amounting to US$183,149,816.00. The number one market is United States with a share of 44 percent of the total value reaching to US$80,842,400.00.
Other major markets in 2004 are Europe, 36 percent, and Japan with eight percent.
However in 2005, there was a decrease in export by 45 percent. The number one market in 2005 was Europe with a share of 36 percent of the total value amounting to US$22,672,468.00
In terms of volume, the highest export performance of canned, fresh and frozen tuna was also in year 2004 with the volume of 105,867,840 kilos. The number one market for the period in terms of volume is United States with a share of 44 percent of the total volume reaching to 41,321,732 kilos.
The profile, meantime, expressed optimism on the potentials of the thriving tuna value added product industry.
â€It is envisioned that tuna value added products like sausages/longanisa, burger, smoked, blackened tuna skewer, tocino and chicharon will have its own market niche both for domestic and export market specifically in the US, Middle East and other Muslim countries,†it said.