Philippines Looks to Spain For Coop To Develop Bluefin Fisheriesff

From Business World

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is eyeing fishing and ranching of bluefin tuna in the Pacific waters northeast of Cagayan to increase domestic tuna production, officials yesterday said.

”We sent our research vessels in the area in 2002, 2004 and 2006 and their conclusion is that there are seasons when tuna can be caught in the Pacific waters [near Cagayan],” Fisheries bureau Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento said in a phone interview.

Fishers can catch and culture up to 50,000 metric tons of bluefin tuna in the area annually, he added.

According to the proposed management plan, fishers would “capture juvenile [bluefin tuna] in the high seas and bring them to fish shelters where they would be cultured,” Gil A. Adora, assistant director of the Fisheries bureau, said.

This year, the Philippines’ deep-sea fishing industry has been reeling from poor catch, attributed to global warming in the Pacific Ocean, high diesel prices that have forced fleets to cut fishing expeditions, as well as a ban by Jakarta on foreign fishing vessels bringing fish caught in Indonesian waters to other countries for processing.

”We are asking aid from Spain for more assessments and formulation of the Bluefin Tuna Management Plan,” Mr. Sarmiento said.

Further assessments will identify “whether the area is a fishing ground or a catching ground,” Mr. Adora said.

To date, the bureau has completed its own studies of fishery resources in the area and is waiting for inputs from marine experts of Spain.

Officials of the Spanish Embassy declined to comment on the proposed fisheries cooperation.

An increase in tuna production and exports will indirectly benefit Spain, Mr. Adora said. “We are one of the major tuna exporters to the European Union and we have passed their food safety criteria last year,” Mr. Adora added.

However, the lack of post-production and storage facilities in the area prevents locals from taking advantage of the tuna-rich Pacific waters, Mr. Sarmiento said.

Illegal Taiwanese fishers are also spotted in the Pacific waters during fishing season, he added.

”[Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap] already approved our plan to build facilities in the eastern seaboard to encourage our fishers who lost fishing grounds in Indonesia,” Mr. Sarmiento said.

Tuna production has steadily increased to 619,137.27 metric tons in 2007 from 560,918.57 metric tons in 2006 and 530,410.4 metric tons in 2005, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed.

Philippine exports of fish and fisheries products totaled $468.786 million in 2007, up from $386.283 million in 2006 and $346.870 million in 2005, data also showed.