By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Deep-sea tuna fishing and canning companies again asked the government to act quickly and craft additional maritime and fishing laws before such resources are depleted due to abusive fishing practices. The various stakeholders also urged the government to pursue bilateral negotiations with Indonesia to protect the interests of Filipino workers there.
At the 17th Tuna National Congress on Wednesday, industry players cited at least four resolutions that, to this day, remain unacted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its subordinate agency, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
The resolutions called on the DA and the Department of Transportation and Communications to craft the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to the 2007 Handline Fishing law.
“The issuance of the IRR has been a continuing clamor the past four national tuna congresses since the passage of RA [Republic Act] 9379, also known as the Handline Fishing law in 2007.
Nonetheless, the proposed IRR has not yet been issued and is still under consideration between and among the different concerned government agencies,” according to an update to the 2014 resolutions presented again before this year’s tuna congress on Wednesday.
The law bans the use of destructive fishing methods currently used by local and foreign deep-sea fishers within its jurisdiction.
A separate resolution is asking Malacañang to create a Philippine committee “for the advancement of highly migratory fisheries.”
The other resolutions include an appeal to the DA to create a “highly migratory fisheries division in the BFAR to manage and regulate the catching and generate baseline information on the fish stocks, especially of tuna; and a policy setting minimum requirement on the safe manning of the deep-sea fishing boats.
In a statement, the Soccsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries Inc. (SFFAII), said fishers in the region “face significant challenges due to the depleted state of many wild fish stocks, lack of accurate statistics on stock status and poor fisheries management.”
Marfenio Y. Tan, a pioneering deep-sea fishing magnate here and former president of the SFFAII, warned that the increasing competition could push further the wanton use of destructive fishing practices if these were left unchecked.
He also said the government remains the sole credible entity to enforce it.
He said the industry was still waiting for the government to act.
Tan also warned that the government’s inaction at a time of rapid climatic changes also contributes to the depletion fish stocks in the East Pacific area.
“We are bracing for the El Niño dry spell that once turned tuna festivals without tuna catch being unloaded at our fishports here. And there are a lot more causes that we have to monitor, and we need an agency to establish those baseline information,” he said.