Local tuna industry faces new opportunities, challenges

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The local tuna industry should take advantage of the Philippines’ ratification of the Multilateral High Level Convention (MHLC) on the conservation of highly migratory fish stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and use this opportunity to increase its competitiveness in the global tuna trade.

"Rather than look at the convention as loss of freedom over fishing domains, the Southern Mindanao tuna industry should be getting its act together and gearing up to play by the new rules," said Dr. Stanley N. Swerdloff, senior fisheries advisor of the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) program of the United States Agency for International Development.

Swerdloff who spoke before the 7th National Tuna Congress, said the convention provides the local tuna industry the means with which to implement measures that will ensure the sector’s economic sustainability and at the same time comply with the rules of the convention.

The MHLC is an agreement among more than 20 Pacific and European countries intended to come up with more effective management, allocation and conservation of the Western and Central Pacific tuna resources.

The ratification of the convention guarantees the Philippines full membership status in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the regional body tasked to manage tuna resources in the Pacific Ocean.

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

Swerdloff said the Mindanao tuna industry, comprising mostly of tuna fishing vessels and processors based in General Santos City will in fact, benefit from what is perceived to be a fast-depleting resource.

Currently, tuna catch here is about 1,000 metric tons daily and earns export revenues of about $300 million annually. It is the leading supplier of canned tuna, high value sashimi tuna and tuna steaks to the Japanese, European and American markets.

Being a major world supplier of tuna, Swerdloff said the Philipines should be more aggressive in participating in the crafting of measures to manage the region’s tuna resources.

The Philippines is one of the signatories to the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea and the UN Fish Stock Agreement, which require the country to support global initiatives aimed as efficiently manage the region’s highly-migratory fish stocks.

Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said that with the coming of the new management regime WCPTFC, the Philippine tuna industry should expand its focus on productivity and global competitiveness to include the often-neglected, but vital factor of sustainability of the sea environment and its resources.