An increase in the minimum catch size is part of a blue swimming crab management plan that has been agreed upon by the Philippines and a coalition of crab suppliers.
The National Fisheries Institute’s Crab Council on Tuesday announced that the plan has been submitted to the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (NFARMC) for final approval, due in late summer.
The plan includes an increase in the minimum catch size from 3.5 inches to 4 inches by January 2013, to be observed by the Philippine Association for Crab Processors.
The crab suppliers who worked on the plan also agreed that a site-specific closed season should be implemented, provided the scientific data covering a two-year period supports the closure.
“If the plan is endorsed by NFARMC, the Philippines blue swimming crab fishery will boast one of the most advanced Fishery Improvement Plans in South East Asia,” said Howard Johnson, director of global programs for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.
“We are pleased to see our partners in the Philippines taking this major positive step to manage their blue swimming crab fishery,” added NFI Crab Council Chairman Ed Rhodes of Phillips Foods. “Collaboration is an essential component of a sustainable fishery and this plan is one that stakeholders from all sides have worked on. We see it as a model of how public, government, private and NGO efforts can work together to improve fisheries and move them along the road to sustainability.”
Other Asian countries, including Indonesia, have adopted a minimum catch size for blue swimming crab.
