Philippines divided on tuna fishing ban

In March, the commission that oversees the harvest of tuna in the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean is to meet to decide whether to lift a two-year-old ban on fishing in one of the strategic migratory paths of the fish, which are declining in numbers as their value skyrockets.

The Pacific supports a tuna fishery worth US$1.8 billion annually that accounts for a third of global tuna catches. A single 278 kg Bluefin caught in the waters off northern Japan in January fetched a record US$736,000. The average price over the past 15 years for a single fish at the first Tokyo auction of the year was US$153,000, according to Bloomberg, although what comes in the StarKist can is obviously a lot lower-grade. 

Conservationists warned in mid-2011 that five of the eight tuna species are at risk of extinction, with all three bluefin species — southern, Atlantic and Pacific — susceptible to collapse from overfishing. The International Union for Conservation of Nature study said seven of the 61 species of so-called “scombrid” or billed fish, are under severe threat. In the early days of the Philippine industry, tuna were caught just a little over 100 meters from shore off Mindanao. Today, the closest they can be found in volume is a good six hours from the coastal towns of Kiamba and Maasim. On a bad day, three weeks in the open seas off Sarangani Bay will net a zero catch.

Although Filipino tuna fishermen say the ban in the area of the migratory path is costing them their livelihoods, Marfenio Tan, the former president of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industry in General Santos City, said he favors a longer ban or even a total one on fishing in the two pockets, rather than a mere lifting of the ban, however, in an effort to allow the rapidly declining species to replenish their stocks.

Click here to read the full story from the Asia Sentinel >

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