1,600 tuna workers face layoff due to fishing ban

General Santos City — Some 1,600 workers of various fishing companies here may lose their jobs within the next few weeks as a result of the fishing ban that started earlier this month in the critical high seas off the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said.

Gloria Tango, DoLE Region 12 director, said their assessment showed that at least eight of the 13 fishing companies in the city were already affected by the two-year fishing ban in the Pacific’s international waters that was imposed starting Jan. 1 by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

“Around 200 workers from each of these companies might be displaced because of the fishing ban,” she said.

Tango said the eight companies, which she did not name, were reportedly forced to stop or limit their operations since they don’t have access to alternative fishing grounds following the imposition of the fishing ban.

She said the five other fishing companies sustained their normal operations after they were able to ink fishing arrangements with some countries, among them Papua New Guinea and Micronesia, prior to the ban.

Tuna industry players earlier estimated a 10-percent decline in tuna catches as a result of WCPFC’s fishing ban.

The WCPFC was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, of which the Philippines was a signatory, that came into force in 2004.

The WCPFC imposed the fishing ban on all of its 25-member countries and 10 other observer-states as a result of scientific studies and the emergence of statistics that showed the drastic decline of tuna fish stocks in the region.

The move was to allow highly migratory yellowfin and bigeye tuna to recover from state of overfishing.

The ban virtually prohibits purse seine fishing and use of fish aggregating devices in two major pockets of international waters south of the western pacific region and almost the whole area of the northern Pacific.

The areas covered by the ban were part of the traditional fishing grounds of Philippine-based tuna fishing companies, most of which are based in this city.

Tango said they initially launched the profiling of the workers that would be affected by the layoffs.

“We asked the affected companies to submit a copy of the consolidated profile of their workers that would be laid off so we can assess the appropriate assistance for them,” she said.

Tango said the consolidated profile will include some vital information about the affected workers such as their age, educational attainment, job experience and skills.

“From those information, we will be able to determine if they will need additional skills trainings or if their existing skills may match them with the needs of some companies in the area,” she added. –Daily Tribune