Philippines industry Tonnes of tuna

Tuna is a longstanding livelihood activity among Filipino fishers but, as catches increase, measures are called for

ituated in a region that boasts great rapidly from 2002, primarily from the marine biodiversity and one of the output of the commercial fishers. Smost abundant tuna resources, it is However, the official estimate of the tuna not surprising that the Philippines ranked catch for the previous years does not 11th in world production in 2001 reflect the productivity of Philippine and was the fourth-largest producer of waters. This is because producers and tuna and tuna-like species in the world in canneries landed their catches in private 2003, according to the FAO Statistical ports and under-reported the catch to Database (FAOSTAT) of the Food and reduce taxes. Also, tuna caught outside Agriculture Organization of the United Philippine waters were being reported as Nations (FAO). caught inside the Philippines. More recent data are expected to be more reliable for Tuna fishing is a longstanding livelihood -management purposes, activity among Filipino fishers, especially particularly with the more extensive use in the southern Philippine provinces. In of the GSCFPC. 2003, the Philippines ranked second in tuna production in the western central The major tuna species are skipjack, Pacific region, accounting for 22 per cent yellowfin, bigeye, eastern little and of the total catch. Although tuna frigate. Oceanic tuna (skipjack, yellowfin, resources are distributed throughout bigeye, northern bluefin and albacore) are Philippine waters, the major production predominant in deep waters beyond the areas are the (i) Moro Gulf/Celebes Sea, continental shelf, and are part of the (ii) Sulu Sea and (iii) South China Sea. In regional stocks of the western central addition, Filipino fishers are also known Pacific Ocean. Skipjack, yellowfin and to exploit tuna fishing grounds outside the bigeye tuna spawn extensively in Philippines, such as in Indonesia, Papua Philippine waters, with juvenile tuna New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. making up a high percentage of the standing biomass of all species. Neritic General Santos City is the country’s tuna tuna (eastern little, frigate, bullet and capital. Its reputation started to gain longtail) are abundant in inshore waters. prominence in the 1970s due to its proximity to traditional tuna fishing The major tuna producers in Philippine grounds. The establishment of processing waters are handliners and purse-seiners. and canning corporations as well as A moratorium on the issuance of post-harvest facilities like ice plants additional licences for backed up the rapidly expanding tuna vessels (purse-seiners, tuna ringnets and industry. The government supported the longliners) was passed in 2004 in order to industry with the construction of an abate . No other foreign-flag airport in 1991 and the General Santos vessel is allowed to fish in Philippine City Fish Port Complex (GSCFPC) in 1998. waters, but foreign vessels have been regularly apprehended for illegal fishing. The boom in Philippine tuna production is generally attributed to the successful International market use of the fish-aggregating device (FAD) The primary producer of the high-priced locally known as payao, which greatly Class A or sashimi-grade tuna destined for reduced the time spent for searching and the international market are the catching tuna. Production accelerated small-scale handliners found all over the

SAMUDRA Report No. 46 March 2007 9 Table 1. Estimated Tuna Fleet Structure Type Tonnage Estimated Number Fishing Grounds Handline Bancas Up to 60 GT 3,000 Philippines, Indonesia, Philippines Philippines Palau, high seas, Papua New Guinea Purse-seiners 1. Small purse-seine <250 GT 110 Philippines, Indonesia 2. Large purse-seine >250 GT 54 Papua New Guinea, In- and super-seiners donesia, high seas Tuna Ringnet > 100 GT 100 Mostly Philippine waters Long liners 1. Domestic 14 Mostly Philippine waters 2. Distant-water 25 Pacific, Indian and At- lantic ocean Source: Barut & Garvilles, 2005

country. The adult yellowfin, skipjack quality of landed tuna that is not suitable and bigeye tuna are the common species for the export market. caught by . Among the several issues faced by the he tuna boom in General Santos palaran are: City has attracted poor fishers Tfrom different provinces in • the declining catch in municipal southern and central Philippines to seek waters due to overharvesting, their fortune in tuna handlining. destructive fishing practices (like Depleted waters adjacent to the cyanide and dynamite fishing), Philippines have pushed handliners to water pollution, and the fish outside local waters. Handliners are degradation of coastal ecosystems not required to report where their catches (mangrove forests, corals, are caught since they are not part of the seagrass) due to various bilateral fishing agreements with other development initiatives (like countries. No reliable estimates can be fishpond and resort construction); made regarding catches outside the Philippines but it is generally accepted • theft of engines by ‘seajackers’; that more than half of the landed catch of and large tuna from municipal fishers come from beyond Philippine waters. • lack of capital to invest in more efficient gear and/or payaos. There are two types of handline fishers, the palaran (catcher of flatfishes) and the The pamariles specifically target adult tuna pamariles (catcher of yellowfin tuna). The intended for the export market. Their palaran handliner is confined to the fishing craft comprise a mother boat, municipal waters (that is, within 15 km of usually of 15 gross tonnes (GT) size, that the shore), while the pamariles fishers can carries several auxiliary boats on its venture to distant waters that are even outriggers. The mother boat transports the beyond the Philippine exclusive auxiliary boats to the payaos, where they economic zone (EEZ). The palaran uses a scout for tuna. The payaos are usually simple vessel with outriggers to catch a owned by purse-seiners but handliners wide variety of fish in the municipal are sometimes allowed by the waters. Due to the small size of the vessel, purse-seiners to harvest fish in their payaos only a limited amount of ice is carried on as long as they respect the priority use board. This usually results in lower rights of the purse-seiners and do not cut

10 SAMUDRA Report No. 46 March 2007 Philippines the anchor line. The mother boats are • threat of arrests by foreign usually equipped with radio sets, authorities for poaching; compasses and a global positioning system (GPS), and can carry up to 6-18 • rising operating expenses, tonnes of ice. Depending on the size, the specifically for fuel; pumpboat can carry a crew of eight to 20. • stagnation in fish prices; he favourite fishing grounds of the pamariles are in the Moro Gulf, the • entry of cheap imported and TMindanao Sea and the waters smuggled tuna products that surrounding Davao and the islands of unfairly compete with the local Tawi-Tawi. Due to the declining catch, the catch; bigger handline vessels scour the international waters (off Indonesia, • stiff European Union (EU) Australia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji) for standards, which are considered tuna, despite the looming threat of impractical for handline apprehension and detention for poaching. pumpboats and limit their entry (In 2002, a bilateral fishing agreement for into the EU market; Philippine fishing vessels to access Indonesian fishing grounds was reached • absence of representation in the with the Republic of Indonesia, which will National Tuna Industry Council; last until 2011.) and

The players in the pamariles fishery • classification of handliners as include fishers, financiers, brokers, commercial fishers, thus boatowners and pumpboat operators. A subjecting them to higher fees and common sharing system between these excluding them from enjoying the players is lilima wherein the fisher gets 20 use rights reserved for traditional per cent of the actual gross sale of fishers. captured tuna for every fishing expedition. Cannery grade Canners in General Santos largely depend The issues faced by the pamariles include: on purse-seine fishers for their raw supply of tuna. Purse-seining is a fleet-based • safety at sea; operation that occurs in the open sea for six months to a year. Sixty per cent of the

SAMUDRA Report No. 46 March 2007 11 Philippines Philippines

purse-seine catch is cannery-grade The total output from 16 tuna canneries in quality meant for processing, 35 per cent 2003 was 10.5 mn cases, equivalent to are delivered to the outside domestic 250,000 tonnes of raw product (mainly markets, and the remaining 5 per cent are oceanic tuna). Over 90 per cent of such consumed locally. It is estimated that the output is destined for the export market. purse-seine sector provides jobs to at least Favourable trade arrangements are 15,000 people in General Santos City. pushing tuna canneries to develop new product lines (like pouch packs). Outside s handliners target adult the Philippines, there are two canneries in yellowfin in the deeper column of Bitung, Indonesia, and one in Madang, Athe water, the purse-seiners (and Papua New Guinea, which are ringnets) gather mainly juvenile tuna Filipino-owned. The canneries in (mostly yellowfin and skipjack) that Indonesia process an estimated 20,000 aggregate near the surface of the water. tonnes per year, while the canneries in Studies have shown that more than 90 per Papua New Guinea process 30,000 tonnes cent of the catch of commercial fishers in annually. southern Mindanao is under 12 months of age. This smaller-sized tuna catch is Close to 8,000 people work in the tuna unsuitable for export in the canning industry of General Santos City. fresh/frozen/chilled form. Tuna that Most cannery workers are hired by weigh heavier than 300 grams go to the canning firms through workers’ canneries, while the rest are sold to the co-operatives. The terms of employment domestic market. are based on contracts that are continuously renewed on the basis of The issues associated with purse-seiners performance and the labour needs of the include: canning corporations. Workers consider the canning plants as the best employers • access to foreign fishing grounds; in the city in terms of job tenure and remuneration. Nonetheless, the turnover • rising operating costs; rate of employees is considerable due to the tiring and long hours of work. • increasing overfishing with the use of fine-mesh nets; and Some of the issues identified by the stakeholders in the canning industry are: • overproduction that threatens resource sustainability and • high price of raw materials due to depresses fish prices. the decline in the purse-seine catch

12 SAMUDRA Report No. 46 March 2007 Philippines and expanded taxes; assessment reports of the Scientific Co-ordinating Group of the Preparatory • tariff and non-tariff barriers of the Conference of the Commission for the major export markets (EU and the Conservation of Highly Migratory Fish United States); and Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) revealed that tuna stock in • weak promotion or branding of the region have not been fully exploited. Philippine products. Skipjack is not being overfished and the stock is not in an overfished state. he Philippines’ tuna industry Yellowfin tuna are not being overfished contributes significantly to the but the stock is nearing full exploitation, Tcountry’s international trade, both especially in the equatorial region. as an export and import commodity. The top export tuna commodity is canned Bigeye tuna findings are inconsistent with tuna, which earned US$111.8 mn in 2003. previous studies but the conclusion is that Fresh/chilled and frozen tuna products overfishing is occurring but the stock is reached US$44.7 mn in exports in 2003. For not yet overfished. However, the these products, the US is the market local imminent collapse of Philippine tuna exporters prefer over Japan because of fisheries has been predicted because of the more stable prices and more lenient increasing catches and the widespread use standards. of payao.

The major issue affecting the processing The Philippines is a signatory to the sector is the saturation of the US market. United Nations Agreement on Straddling After the EU ban on smoked/frozen and Highly Migratory from Asian countries, the US Stocks (UNFSA) and is a member of the market suddenly became flooded with WCPFC, the Indian Ocean Tuna processed imports from the Philippines, Commission (IOTC) and the International Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, Commission for the Conservation of triggering the drop in prices. Atlantic (ICCAT).

Canned tuna, mainly from Thailand and Faced with a myriad of resource-use, the Philippines, used to face a crippling 24 management and trade problems, and the per cent tariff in the EU, compared to the 0 need to commit to regional management per cent tariff for products from the regimes, the tuna industry in 1999 Andean countries. Through a long organized itself by creating the South negotiation process, the EU offered a Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and compromise of 12 per cent tariff on a quota General Santos Federation of Fishing of 25,000 tonnes, to be shared by Southeast Associations and Allied Industries Asian countries in 2003. This allowed the (SFFAAI). The federation aimed to unite Philippine tuna canneries to recover and the diverse sub-sectors of the tuna increase operations. industry; serve as a forum to discuss problems and how to resolve them; and In terms of import, fresh/chilled/frozen represent the tuna industry in lobbying tuna intended for the canneries figure for policy reforms and other concerns that amongst the top three fishery product affect it. A national confederation soon imports of the Philippines. Local followed. producers have long protested the entry of imported tuna because it depresses local Fishing agreements prices. However, the strong export In 2000, the government created a demand for canned tuna, the relatively National Tuna Industry Council (NTIC) to low price of imported tuna and the need formulate a strategic action plan for the for a stable supply to keep the canneries industry; review and recommend policies operational at profitable levels led to the affecting bilateral and multilateral fishing continued import of tuna. The continuous agreements, and trade relations; growth of tuna landings, based on official recommend projects and programmes for figures, suggests that tuna stocks are still the benefit of the industry; co-ordinate being harvested below the maximum with private and public entities affected sustainable yield (MSY). The 2003 stock by the action plan; and establish an

SAMUDRA Report No. 46 March 2007 13 Philippines Philippines

integrative and intersectoral mechanism allowable catch for different producers, for collaboration. The NTIC has and there should be no substantial representatives from the different sectors increase in TAC from current catch of the tuna industry. However, the estimates. With the additional handliners are in uproar since their production projected to come from representative is closely associated with foreign fishing vessels in the expansion purse-seiners and not the handliners. work in GSCFPC, the adverse impact on Among other measures, the National local producers and consumers would Tuna Management Plan proposed MSY have to addressed. and TAC for different species based on 2002 catch estimates. The tuna industry contributes positively to the economy of southern Mindanao he sustainability of tuna through the economic benefits associated production continues to be a with international trade, and the Theated debate, in the context of the employment created by the production, lack of reliable time-series data for tuna processing and marketing of tuna. On the production. It is expected that enhanced other hand, with frigate tuna being one of fish-landing facilities and the WCPFC the cheapest fish products available to the would improve collection of data and Filipino people, sustainability measures allow for more substantial analysis in must be put in place since this commodity determining the tuna stock. is not included among the species being managed under a TAC regime. Soaring fuel prices and the expanded value-added tax (EVAT) have pushed up The large volumes of tuna imported for expenses, while revenues have failed to canneries do not automatically translate increase proportionally. This is further into enhanced food security through aggravated by the currently strong availability of more affordable food. This Philippine peso currency, which is because more than 90 per cent of the eventually depresses the value of US production of the canneries is re-exported. dollar revenues. Fuel subsidies have been proposed but the suggestion has been Detrimental role criticized as a solution that will only On the contrary, the export of tuna further aggravate the problem. products may have a more significant detrimental role in terms of availability of The push for sustaining livelihoods and food. It is critical that all sectors participate greater access to foreign markets must be in the formulation of policies at the harmonized with the limits to the national and regional levels so as to

14 SAMUDRA Report No. 46 March 2007 Philippines incorporate sectoral issues and concerns. Also, representatives need to well appreciate the potential decline in tuna stocks and the need to contribute to the management of stocks.

This article is by Cesar Allan Vera ([email protected]), Co-ordinator, and Zarina Hipolito (admin@ cbcrmlearning.org), Research Associate, of the Community-based Coastal Resource Management Resource Centre (CBCRM-RC, www. cbcrmlearning.org), Quezon City, Philippines

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