(IntraFish) In March, the commission that oversees the harvest of tuna in 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, reports Asia Sentinel.
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, in an effort to allow the rapidly declining species to replenish their stocks.
Tan is supported by an American yellowfin tuna trader, John Heitz. The two are calling for a moratorium on net and purse seine fishing as well as a moratorium on tuna fishing during spawning season or reducing vessel fishing days.
The seas off Palau, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are areas closest to the Philippines where local tuna fishing companies frequently operate and further south west off the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and parts of Kiribati.
Opponents of the ban, including General Santos City Councilor Ronnel Rivera, argue that the ban has had a direct impact on employment and the Philippine economy, especially in southern Mindanao.
The opponents say they aren’t pushing for the resumption of so-called super seiners, 70-meter giants that can land up to 200 metric tons in a single catch by settling a large circular net around the school of fish, then pursing the bottom together to capture them. Those vessels are largely stationed in Papua New Guinea where two Filipino companies also own tuna separate canning plants.
“We cannot compete with the super seiners of countries like the US, Japan, Spain and others anyway,” Marfenio Tan said.
Most Philippine fishing vessels are capable of catching up to 50 tons of tuna-like specie, mostly used as raw materials for canning. Tan said there were 38 Philippine fishing vessels operating in these areas prior to the two-year ban that took effect starting in 2010.