The quota represents the 2011 tuna landings in Philippine waters and excludes imported frozen tuna from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Total fish landings in General Santos City for 2011 stood at 112,890.82 tonnes, most of them consisting of tuna or tuna-like species. The figure includes the 85.94 tonnes of frozen tuna imported and those shipped from Manila for the city’s six canning factories, according to the General Santos City Fish Port Complex. Benjamin Tabios, BFAR assistant director, said most of the 162 purse seine tuna catchers will have to be decommissioned to keep the industry going, Asian Correspondent reports.
“(The assessment) is fairly correct that there must be a reduction of fishing fleet but there should also be proportionate reduction in gross catch,” Tabios stated, referring to an earlier statement by former Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries President Marfenio Tan, who thinks diminishing the purse seine tuna fleet from General Santos from 162 to 50 will help sustain the industry in light declining catches and rising production costs over the last three years.
Similarly, Tabios said the tuna food chain must be managed for tuna stocks to bounce back. The three-month ban on sardine fishing early in 2012 helped tuna catches from municipal waters improve as well, he noted, which makes sense because tuna feed on sardines (tamban or white sardinella).
BFAR is now proposing a 30 per cent catch cut in nine of the country’s 12 traditional fishing grounds. However, there are still frontier areas for the country’s tuna fishing, he said, mentioning the immense Pacific Ocean side of the Philippines, which has remained largely unexploited.
BFAR wants the country to take three major steps to manage its diminishing tuna catches: a reduction of fishing vessels, slashing the number of fishing days and adopting a closure season especially in known tuna spawning grounds.
Vince Cinches, Greenpeace Southeast Asia ocean campaigner, said several tuna fishing companies have been thinking about shifting from purse seine fishing to the more sustainable pole and line fishing to avoid stressing stocks further given dwindling supplies. He highlighted the importance of changing to pole and line to protect wild tuna.
The firms’ primary concern is the cost of switching from one method to another, PNA reports. Ibrahim Athif Shakoor, International Pole and Line Foundation secretary general, pointed out that pole and line fishing is cheaper than purse seine: a pole and line vessel only cost as much as USD 330,000 compared to a figure from USD 25 million to USD 30 million for a purse seine fleet. A pole and line vessel could fit up to 60 tonnes of fish.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first six months of 2026, Ha Tinh province continued to implement comprehensive solutions to combat IUU fishing; strictly manage the fishing fleet, control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, operate vessel tracking devices, trace the origin of seafood, and severely punish violations.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's tilapia exports reached USD 7 million in June 2026, down 32% compared with the same month in 2025. Nevertheless, thanks to strong growth in the first five months of the year, cumulative tilapia exports in the first half of 2026 totaled USD 69 million, up 67% year on year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Sa Giang Import-Export Joint Stock Company, a member of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), has been honored with the "Famous Brand - Competitive Vietnamese Brand 2026" certification at an award ceremony organized by the Vietnam Intellectual Property Association (VIPA).
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) China imported nearly $1.4 billion worth of Vietnamese seafood in the first half of the year, a 40% increase compared to the same period last year, surpassing the US to become the largest export market for the industry.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) As part of Vietfish 2026, the International Seafood Hosted Buyer Program has been designed as a dedicated B2B matchmaking initiative for selected international buyers. The program provides opportunities to meet directly with Vietnamese seafood companies, gain market insights, and experience Vietnam's seafood supply chain firsthand.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) A Story from Cà Mau’s Coast It’s 5 AM in Cà Mau. Minh, a third-generation fisherman, is ready to set sail. But unlike his father and grandfather, his boat no longer runs on an old diesel engine that burns fuel and clouds the sky with smoke. Instead, it’s powered by a hybrid engine that saves 40% fuel—funded by an ESG program from a major seafood exporter.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's pangasius industry is shifting its focus from increasing production volume to enhancing value-added products in order to meet the increasingly stringent requirements of export markets. In An Giang Province—the country's leading hub for pangasius farming and processing—businesses and farmers are prioritizing product quality, traceability, food safety, and sustainable development rather than expanding output.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Following strong growth in 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Sweden continued to edge higher during the first five months of 2026. However, the picture is far from straightforward. Orders have fluctuated significantly from month to month, indicating that this market remains cautious, with purchasing decisions closely tied to actual demand and the import cycles of Nordic distributors rather than to a steady upward trend.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) China’s shrimp imports in the first five months of 2026 continued to surpass the same period in 2025, indicating that demand in the world’s largest seafood-consuming market remains strong. However, behind the growth figures lies an increasingly competitive landscape: Ecuador dominates the competitively priced whiteleg shrimp segment, India remains the second-largest supplier, while Vietnam stands out in the lobster segment but still needs to strengthen its advantages through quality, traceability, and reliable supply.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Lobster exports to China continued to surge in the first half of this year, putting the lobster industry on the verge of reaching an export value exceeding $1 billion.
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