East-West Environment and Policy Institute Research Report No. 4 Fishery Management and Extended Maritime Jurisdiction: The Philippine Tuna Fishery Situation by Virginia L. Aprieto East-West Center Honolulu, Hawaii THE EAST-WEST CENTER—officially known as the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West—is a national educational institution established in Hawaii by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to promote better relations and understanding between the United States and the nations of Asia and the Pacific through cooperative study, training, and research. The Center is administered by a public, nonprofit corporation whose international Board of Governors consists of distinguished scholars, business leaders, and public servants. Each year more than 1,500 men and women from many nations and cul• tures participate in Center programs that seek cooperative solutions to prob• lems of mutual consequence to East and West. Working with the Center's multidisciplinary and multicultural staff, participants include visiting scholars and researchers; leaders and professionals from the academic, government, and business communities; and graduate degree students, most of whom are enrolled at the University of Hawaii. For each Center participant from the United States, two participants are sought from the Asian and Pacific area. Center programs are conducted by institutes addressing problems of com• munication, culture learning, environment and policy, population, and re• source systems. A limited number of "open" grants are available to degree scholars and research fellows whose academic interests are not encompassed by institute programs. The U.S. Congress provides basic funding for Center programs and a va• riety of awards to participants. Because of the cooperative nature of Center programs, financial support and cost-sharing are also provided by Asian and Pacific governments, regional agencies, private enterprise and foundations. The Center is on land adjacent to and provided by the University of Hawaii. THE EAST-WEST ENVIRONMENT AND POLICY INSTITUTE was established in October 1977 to increase understanding of the interrelationships among policies designed to meet a broad range of human and societal needs over time and the natural systems and resources on which these policies depend or impact. Through interdisciplinary and multinational programs of research, study, and training, the Institute seeks to develop and apply concepts and approaches useful in identifying alternatives available to decision makers and in assessing the implications of such choices. Progress and results of Institute programs are disseminated in the East-West Center region through research reports, books, workshop reports, working papers, newsletters, and other educational and informational materials. William H. Matthews, Director East-West Environment and Policy Institute East-West Center 1777 East-West Road Honolulu, Hawaii 96848 Fishery Management and Extended Maritime Jurisdiction: The Philippine Tuna Fishery Situation by Virginia L. Aprieto Research Report No. 4 • March 1981 East-West Environment and Policy Institute VIRGINIA L. APRIETO is Director for Research, University of the Philippines in the Visayas, Diliman, Quezon City, 3004 Philippines. She was a Research Fellow at the East-West Environment and Policy Institute from 1 January to 31 December 1979. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Aprielo, Virginia L., 1931- Fishcry management and extended maritime jurisdiction. (Research report/East-West Environment and Policy Institute; no. 4) Bibliography: p. I. Tuna fisheries — Philippines. 2. Fishery policy — Philippines. 3. Economic zones (Maritime law) — Philip• pines. I. Title. II. Series: Research report [East- West Environment and Policy Institute (Honolulu, Hawaii)]; no. 4. SH35I.T8A67 333.95'6 81-3262 AACR2 °I98I East-West Center, East-West Environment and Policy Institute. All rights reserved. Printed in the United Slates of America. CONTENTS PREFACE v ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Toward a New Regime 2 Tuna and Tunalike Fishes: The World Situation 3 PHILIPPINETUNA FISHERIES 6 Maritime Zones and Fishing Areas 6 Economic Importance of Fisheries and the Tuna Fishing Industry . .8 Stock Structure 10 Administration 14 Municipal Tuna Fishery 14 Commercial Tuna Fishery 18 Purse Seine-Bamboo Raft Method 20 The Philippine Tuna Producers and Exporters Association 22 Catch Statistics 24 Exploitation and Production Potential 25 Exportation 27 Government Organization and Policy 28 Tuna Fishery Business Arrangements 30 DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 31 Opportunities and Constraints 31 Utilization of Small Tunas 36 Local Fishery Management System 36 Scientific Research Strategy and Management Needs 37 Foreign Fishing Operations in Philippine Waters 39 EXTENDED FISHERY JURISDICTIONS 41 The Exclusive Economic Zone 41 Rights and Duties of the Coastal States 43 Tuna Management Options in the Philippine FEZ 44 REGIONALTUNA MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 49 The Need for Cooperation 49 Tuna Fishery Commissions 50 Indo-Pacific Tuna Management Efforts 52 Southeast Asian Coastal States and Regional Tuna Management. .54 APPENDIX: THE TUNA FISHERY 57 Worldwide Overview 57 The Philippine Tuna Fishery: Species and Biology 57 NOTES 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY 69 iv Figures Figure 1. Maritime zones and tuna-fishing grounds of the Philippines 7 Figure 2. Spawning grounds and proposed range and migration routes of skipjack subpopulations in the Western Pacific 11 Figure 3. Composite seasonal distribution of yellowfin larvae in the Pacific Ocean 12 Figure 4. Distribution of larvae of tunas and tunalike fishes in Philippine waters 13 Figure 5. The thirteen administrative regionsofthe Philippines 15 Figure 6. Immature tunas caught by purse seine fishing 33 A. Immature yellowfin tuna caught by purse seine and ring net B. Mature yellowfin tunas on deck of a tuna long line vessel Figure 7 Japanese tuna management fishing zones in the Pacific Ocean 47 Tables Table I. Catch Trends of Tuna and Tunalike Fishes of Countries Fishing in the Western Pacific 4 Table 2. Estimated Potential Catches of Tunas from World Oceans . .5 Table 3. Forecasts of Total World Tuna Consumption to 1990 6 Table 4. Ten Most Abundant Commercial Fish Groups, 1978 9 Table 5. Tuna Production by Species, 1974- 1978 10 Table 6. Estimated Number of Municipal Fishermen and Bancas by Re• gion 16 Table 7. Tuna Production by the Municipal Sector 16 Table 8. Tuna Production by Species of Commercial and Municipal Fisheries Sectors (MT) from 1974 to 1978 18 Table 9. Total Tuna Production and Relative Abundance of Commercial and Municipal Fisheries (MT) from 1976 to 1978 18 Table 10. Annual Catch of Tunas by Commercial Fishing Vessels (1961- 1977). .• . .21 Table 11. Tuna Exports (1972-1980) 27 PREFACE This study was undertaken as part of the research activities initiated by the East-West Center Environment and Policy Institute (EAPI) for a proj• ect titled Marine Environment and Extended Maritime Jurisdictions: Transnational Environment and Resource Management in Southeast Asian Seas. This part presents the ocean assets, activities, policies, and problems of one country (the Philippines) as they relate to fisheries man• agement and the emerging regime of extended maritime jurisdiction. The tuna-fishing industry was studied for two reasons: first, tunas comprise the most important commercial fishery of the country; and second, this resource is transnational in distribution and therefore likely to transcend national maritimejurisdictional boundaries. While the tuna-fishing industry is not new in the Philippines, data in a useful form are difficult to find or, when available, are not always compre• hensible or reliable. This situation can exist in other countries in the region as well. In undertaking this study, therefore, existing reports and data were evaluated against actual field situations and information. The author spent two months traveling to fishing ports, markets, and villages in the Philippines, witnessed fishing and fish-landing operations, and interviewed fishermen, managers, entrepreneurs, and government offi• cials. The study reveals many deficiencies in fisheries management policies and practices in the country, as well as the mounting problems the Philip• pines faces in dealing with its neighbors in relation to the use of a shared resource. The deficiencies and problems appear common to most, if not all, the countries within the area of present concern to EAPI. The Philippine case, therefore, provides important first insights into present and future trends in fishery interest and resource use in the Southeast Asian seas —transnational ocean management and the poten• tial problems and opportunities for subnational, national, and interna• tional action and interaction. The author wishes to thank the following persons for their support, help, and advice in undertaking this study: William H. Matthews, EAPI director, and Mark J. Valencia, project coordinator; John E. Bardach, Gerald Marten, Yoshiaki Matsuda, Salvatore Comitini, Phiphat Tangsubkul, and Diane Drigot, research associates and fellows; Virginia Jamieson, Rochelle McArthur, Fannie Lee Kai, Marian Inouye, Marina Chang, Rita Davis, Pamela Morton, and Jean Morris, administrative staff of the EAPI; George Kent of the Department of Political Science of the University of Hawaii; Richard Shomura, Gerald Weatherall and Hazel Nishimuraof the National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu; Arthur G. V] Woodland of the South China Sea Fisheries