Phl canned tuna production down 20% this year

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine canned tuna production has gone down by around 20 percent this year due to the high seas ban on tuna fishing.

Francisco J. Buencamino of the Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines (TCAP) said that if the high seas tuna ban continues, more Filipino tuna canners may be forced to invest outside of the country.

According to Buencamino, three out of the seven local tuna canners have decided to relocate their operations to Indonesia, Papua and New Guinea and even in Vietnam.

The remaining local tuna canners are resorting to more imports of tuna than on local catch, Buencamino said.

In the past, Buencamino said, local canners imported up to 80 percent of their raw materials. In recent years, the mix had shifted with up to 80 percent coming from locally caught tuna and only 20 percent from imported tuna, he added.

However, if the high seas tuna ban continues, Buencamino warned, the local tuna canning industry will have to import once again 80 percent of their tuna requirement and source only 20 percent domestically.

The TCAP, however, Buencamino said, is optimistic that the Philippine government will be able to successfully lobby for the lifting of the high seas tuna ban.

The Philippines plans to file a new appeal for the lifting of the high seas ban on tuna fishing at the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in December.

According to Bureau of Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources (BFAR) Director Asis Perez, the Philippines hopes to convince members of the WCPFC that the Philippines is putting into place various conservation and management measures of its fishing resources.

Perez pointed that the Philippines has suffered a 13-percent decline in tuna catch as a result of the high seas ban.

The high seas fishing ban was imposed by the   WCPFC, a body which groups Pacific island nations with fishing countries, to conserve what scientists have warned are fast dwindling tuna stocks.

The high seas tuna fishing ban was spurred on by the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention or UNCLOS which restricts the use of the global ocean commons to that which is “reasonable” and does not infringe on the right of others.

Tuna varieties such as big eye and yellow fin are in great demand for sashimi and sushi, while the skipjack variety is used for canning.

While the Philippines also consumes tuna, most of its catch are actually exported to Japan which accounts for almost 90 percent of tuna consumption of sashimi and sushi. –Marianne V. Go (The Philippine Star)