THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has issued guidelines regulating the mesh size of tuna purse-seine nets and the trade of small tuna to minimize the catching of small tuna.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap signed Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 226, which would make it illegal for any person, association or operator to use tuna purse-seine nets with mesh size smaller than 3.5 inches (8.89 centimeters) at the bag or bunt portion in catching tuna.

“Tuna is one of the top marine export products of the Philippines and the tuna-fishery resources have been exploited by purse-seine nets, which are observed to catch significant number of small tunas,” said Yap in FAO 226, which will take effect before the end of August.

The provisions of the order were recommended by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Malcolm Sarmiento and Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras.

Those who will be caught violating the new order will be fined P2,000 to P20,000, or imprisonment from six months to two years, or both penalties, depending on the court’s discretion.

The DA will also cancel the license or permits of those who will be found guilty of violating the provisions of FAO 226.

Under FAO 226, operators will be given a grace period of three years from the effectivity of the order to change or replace gradually their nets.

“However, the compliance of the nets to the legal mesh size should start in the first year of the grace period  where 10 percent of the total number of purse-seine catchers should phase out the illegal mesh size; on the second year it will be 20 percent, and on the third year will be 70 percent,” the order read.

Tuna purse seine refers to a type of fishing gear which surrounds a school of tuna fish attracted by payao lights and/or from free school or drifting logs using a rectangular net with floats at the upper portion and purse rings at the lower section where the purse rope or cable passes through to close the net bottom during fishing operations.

The net is either hauled manually or through a mechanical or hydraulic net hauler/power block.

In issuing the order, the DA noted that the harvest of small tuna has caused alarm and “grave concern” since it affects the replenishment of tuna stocks as significant numbers are caught before reaching maturity.

The DA also noted that the commercial fisheries sector in the Philippines is now showing the strains of reduced catch as purse-seine nets contribute to the harvest of small tuna.

Davao Gulf, Moro Gulf, Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea are known breeding grounds of tuna species.

The Fisheries Code of 1998 and other international agreements call for the management and conservation of highly migratory fish stocks.

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