MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has forged a partnership with the Canned Sardines Association of the Philippines (CSAP) to meet the supply of sardines for canneries during the closed fishing season.
The looming sardine shortage earlier raised by the canneries may be averted through the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by BFAR and CSAP officials yesterday.
“Aside from sustaining, and ultimately increasing, the supply of sardines for canneries, the MOA intends to capacitate municipal fisherfolk on proper fish handling, food safety standards, and processing technologies,” DA-BFAR officer-in-charge Demosthenes Escoto said during the signing ceremony.
Under the deal, BFAR will provide post-harvest support and necessary equipment, such as ice making machines and fish containers, in identified landing sites where the consolidation of raw materials will take place.
“During the infancy of the project, the bureau will also subsidize the transport costs, as well as facilitate the transaction between CSAP and municipal fisherfolk under the project.
Escoto said the bureau has set an initial budget of P8.5 million for the ice coolers and ice making machines, and for the transport cost subsidy.
“We are allotting P8.5 million as initial funding, [but] we will have to source as we go on with the project,” he said.
BFAR will also identify the municipal fisherfolk associations that will supply the sardines for canning, as well as the fish landing areas for the consolidation of raw materials.
Once identified, the municipal fishermen will be trained on food safety and traceability requirements to meet the quality needs of canneries.
Initially, the project will be launched in Sorsogon to serve the canneries in Metro Manila, and in Zamboanga to supply the local canneries in the area, Escoto said.
“We are open to expanding the project,” he said.
For its part, CSAP said it would ensure that its members observe fair trade in directly negotiating with selected associations derived from the identified registered municipal fisherfolk provided by the BFAR.
CSAP will also ensure that its members strictly comply with the terms and conditions in the purchase order.
Hopefully, the landmark deal will help in meeting the 72-million kilogram sardine requirement of canneries during the closed fishing season, CSAP executive director Francisco Buencamino said.
“From now and Feb. 28, when the closed fishing season ends, we need to catch 72 million kilograms of tamban (sardines). We hope it can come from the municipal fishermen,” he said.
As canneries secure sardine supply during the closed fishing season, manufacturers are still pushing for the P3 price hike on canned sardines.
Buencamino said fish supply is just one factor out of the several components in producing canned sardines.
“As we all know, the whole world is in a crisis because of the Ukraine war. Many of the materials used for canning are imported, from the tin cans wherein tin can is imported, also tomato paste is made of different ingredients…The peso devaluation [also] resulted in a 15 percent increase just because of the weakening against the dollar,” he said.
The deal will allow members of CSAP to ensure the employment of hundreds of factory workers and adjacent industries when the canneries can continue to operate during the three-month fishing ban.