Bilateral fishing pacts urged to boost tuna trade

Sen. Mar Roxas has urged the National Government to negotiate more bilateral fishing agreements with other Western and Central Pacific countries to allow Filipino fisherfolk greater access to the world’s fishing grounds.

Such agreements, Roxas said, would boost the local tuna fishing industry, which faces stiff competition from foreign tuna fishing operators.

The senator pointed out that the Philippines has signed only one fishing agreement — with Indonesia in 2002.

This situation, he lamented, puts at risk the local tuna industry’s global competitiveness, considering that the Philippines’ major competitors — Taiwan, Korea, China and Spain — have already forged fishing access pacts with their Pacific-island neighbors such as Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati.

Roxas recently filed Senate Bill 1743, which proposes to recognize commercial handline fishing as a form of commercial fishing under Philippine law.

Once the Roxas Bill is enacted into law, thousands of tuna fisherfolks, particularly in General Santos City and Saranggani province, would enjoy wider access to rich fishing grounds in international waters.

Mindanao’s tuna industry generates about P4.5 billion in revenues annually, including P2.5 billion from frozen sashimi processing — mainly finished steaks and sashimi blocks.

At present, commercial handline fishing is not recognized as a form of commercial fishing under the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, also known as Republic Act 8550.

Since the law is silent on commercial handline fishing, vessels engaged in this method of fishing do not qualify for registration to fish outside Philippine waters under existing Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) rules.

New rules of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission provide that each country should ensure that its vessels are registered and licensed to fish in international waters. Otherwise, the boats shall be barred access to international fishing grounds.

During the 6th National Tuna Congress in General Santos, delegates agreed that bilateral fishing accords have become imperative for the local industry to be able to compete aggressively with both established and emerging players in the international tuna trade.

Roxas, in his remarks before the Tuna Congress, expressed confidence that once his bill is enacted, the country would be able to meet the rapidly increasing global demand for large high-quality tuna.