Islands Business - Tuna producers brace for two month ban fishing

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Phillipines ----- Purse seine operators fishing in international waters in western and central areas of the Pacific ocean are bracing themselves for a major cut in tuna production beginning next month. The cut in tuna production came as a result of ban on FAD-fishing imposed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Conference (WCPFC) to replenish stocks of the highly-migratory tuna specie. Sun Star reports the ban will take effect on 01 August and will end on 30 September Member countries and organisations of WCPFC set the ban on tuna fishing in fish aggregating devices (FADs), during the spawning period which fall in the months of July up to September. Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Malcolm Sarmiento said the government will closely monitor the operations of purse seine owners in the region to comply with the WCPFC ban. Violators could face delisting of their fishing vessels from WCPFC and they could be apprehended in international waters. Mr Sarmiento said the government may also revoke the licenses and other permits of tuna producers who will violate the ban. The ban, however, does not apply to hand line tuna fishing and will also not cover FAD fishing inside the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and municipal waters. Purse seine fishing operations are classified as commercial fishing. Bayani Freduluces, executive director of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries (SFFAI), said fishing companies will have their vessels included in the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) list if they will be caught violating the ban. Purse seine operators in General Santos City are reportedly wary about the effects of the ban, but Mr Freduluces said member companies of the federation will comply with the measure. “They are willing to sacrifice short term losses if it will mean the restocking of tuna specie that is being threatened by overfishing,” he said. The federation director said the ban will substantially reduce tuna catch during the period. “Production could drop between 50 to 70 per cent during those months,” he said. According to Mr Freduluces, up to 70 percent of the total landed catch at the General Santos City Fish Port complex is produced by big purse seine operators who are operating in the high seas and international waters. The government, he revealed, tried to lobby for exemption and offered to cut down on the number of FADs but the WCPFC reportedly rejected the proposal. One set of purse seine fleet includes between 80 to 100 FADs. Purse seine operators in the Philippines are reportedly readjusting their drydocking schedules to time them during the ban period. Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines (TCAP) president Mariano Fernandez of Ocean Canning said they will hold meetings to address the looming cut in tuna production. “No fish means no canning operation and no jobs,” he said. But Mr Fernandez believes canning operations will not be drastically affected by the temporary cut in production. Many juvenile fishes are thus caught. Bigeye and yellowfin tuna are considered the most over-fished species over the years. The WCPFC ban on FAD fishing will not only apply to international waters within the western and central Pacific Ocean but also to the exclusive economic zones of the member countries, Mr. Sarmiento said. But it does not cover long-line and hand-line tuna fishing, he noted, allaying fears of supply shortfall since these catching methods could bridge the supply gap. Total tuna landing in the city averages 400,000 metric tons a year and generates US$280 million in export revenues, industry figures showed.