Philippines To Improve Tuna Catch Data Collectionff

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) led by BFAR Assistant Director Atty. Benjamin Tabios, in collaboration with the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) recently held a Tuna Statistics Consultation Meeting with the tuna industry representatives from General Santos City and from around the country.

The meeting focused on the improvement of tuna log sheets which will be used by BFAR-NFRDI to collect data about the tuna caught by Filipino fishers in and outside the country.

The information which will be generated by the BFAR-NFRDI survey is required by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which determines the total allowable catch of tuna species and allocate catch among its member-countries including the Philippines. The Philippines is required to submit annual reports of its tuna catch to the WCPFC. The WCPFC was represented by Dr. Tony Lewis, Oceanic Fisheries Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community - Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (SPC-WCPFC) during the meeting.

Captains or skippers of tuna catcher vessels will be provided with these log sheets and will be required to provide information such as volume of their tuna catch, the species names of tuna caught, the location of their fishing grounds and time of capture and place of unloading among others.

Aside from BFAR-NFRDI, the PFDA and BAS also conduct monitoring and surveys on tuna and other fisheries commodities. The PFDA monitors all fishery commodities which pass through their fishports. BAS has been collecting and organizing fishery data through sample surveys and use of secondary sources since 1988 by virtue of Executive Order 116 of 1987 which was signed by President Corazon C. Aquino which mandated the BAS to do the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of fishery statistics.

The move by BFAR to collect information from tuna fishermen has met some opposition by some tuna hand-liners owing to the fact that they have to reveal confidential information on their fishing grounds, which are closely guarded secrets. They even expressed fear that the information collected through the log sheets can and will be used against them. Marfenio Tan, president of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries (SFFAI) Inc., however, explained to the members of the tuna industry that these information gathering activities of BFAR are for the improved management of the tuna stocks in our country. He said that the tuna stocks should be properly managed by the government with the cooperation of all stakeholders because the survival of the tuna industry depends on the survival of the tuna stocks. In addition, BFAR Assistant Dir. Benjamin S. Tabios assured the industry leaders that all information collected through this program cannot be used against the members of the fishing industry.

During the consultation, it was agreed that BFAR, PFDA, BAS and the Tuna industry should specify separately in their reports the volume of catch of tuna caught within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the volume caught outside the EEZ. The same scheme also goes for the tuna caught by Philippine-Flagged vessels and non-Philippine Flagged vessels. BAS also appealed to the owners of private fishports to provide data which are as “accurate as possible” and at a timely basis.

The Philippines was among the primary signatories to the Multilateral High Level Convention’s (MHLC) “Convention on Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Species in the Western and Central Pacific” forged by at least 29 nations in September 2000. The WCPFC was launched on 2004 at Pohnpei, Micronesia.