RP saving tuna for tomorrow<\/p>\n
Overfishing and coastal damages threaten the tuna industry in
\nthe Philippines. Johanna Son of Inter Press Service reports.<\/p>\n
SARANGANI, Philippines: Sinewy, sunburnt fishermen heave the
\ntuna onto the sandy beaches of this southern Philippine fishing
\ntown, fresh fish blood dripping down their shoulders.<\/p>\n
Traders tag the tuna by flesh firmness and pinkness, sending
\nthe best-grade ones off for export to Japan as sashimi. Market
\ntraders and tuna canneries take the rest of the catch.<\/p>\n
This scene unfolds every day in the Philippines' tuna capital
\nand remains unchanged -- except that fishermen say the fish they
\ncatch have become smaller and that they have had to go further
\ninto the open seas in recent years.<\/p>\n
The Philippines is among the top ten fish producers in the
\ndeveloping world. In South-east Asia, it ranks third after
\nIndonesia and Thailand in terms of fish output, hauling in some
\n2.26 metric tons in 1993.<\/p>\n
But the country' fishing communities are grappling with the
\nills of overfishing, harmful fishing methods, overdevelopment of
\ncoastal area, pollution and overexploitation of marine resources.<\/p>\n
Those in General Santos City and Sarangani province in
\nMindanao, at the Philippines's southernmost tip, are no
\nexception. Indeed, local fisherfolk say Sarangani Bay, key to the
\nregion's thriving tuna industry, is fast getting depleted of its
\nriches.<\/p>\n
Years ago, long-time residents say, whales could be seen
\nventuring into the deep bay, which used to be a rich spawning
\nground for tuna and other species.<\/p>\n
Today, much fewer fish seek refuge in the bay because damaged
\ncoral reefs mean fewer nutrients, smaller reef fishes and lesser
\ndiversity.<\/p>\n
\"People used to catch tuna over 30 kilos, but they normally
\nget smaller ones now,\" says Rey Visitacion, a marine biologist
\nwho works with a coastal management project that is part of a
\ngrowth plan for Mindanao.<\/p>\n
\"It's all linked,\" he explains. \"With damage to coastal areas,
\nthere aren't enough nutrients for fish fry that come into the
\nbay. When you disturb nutrient flow, you cut the cycle.\"<\/p>\n
Up to 300 metric tons of fish are landed daily in the General
\nSantos City and Sarangani area, the Philippines' second largest
\nproducer of fish. Main fish species are yellow fin tuna, round
\nscad, big eye, skipjack and marlin.<\/p>\n
More than 40 fishing firms with 1,000 boats operate in the
\narea with some 5,000 commercial and 25,000 municipal fishermen.
\nFishing is the leading industry here, and Sarangani Bay provides
\n75 percent of livelihood in its coastal villages.<\/p>\n
Commercial tuna fishing began two decades ago, with General
\nSantos and Sarangani contributing a quarter of the country's
\ntotal production. The area's catch rose in 1985 to 123,000 metric
\ntons, but has since declined. In 1990 it fell to as low as 74,000
\nmetric tons.<\/p>\n
These days, the trend in the Philippines has followed the
\nglobal pattern of stagnating fish catches. Tuna used to be
\nabundant in Sarangani Bay itself but \"except for and occasional
\nschool of skipjack tuna entering the fish corrals near the bay's
\nentrance, tuna are no longer caught in the bay\", says a local
\nreport.<\/p>\n
Small-scale and commercial fishermen have been left much on
\ntheir own in the narrow bay. Municipal fishers often come in
\nconflict with commercial fishermen in Sarangani Bay. Overfishing
\nhas destroyed jobs and incomes, and the collapse of major fishing
\ngrounds in the Philippines uproots 38,000 fishermen a year.<\/p>\n
Due to falling fish catch, Filipino fishing firms have inked
\nagreements to harvest tuna and mackerel as far as Sulawesi and
\nHalmahera in Indonesia, to the south.<\/p>\n
Late last year, alarmed residents, environmentalists and
\ngovernment officials banded together as the \"Sarangani Bay Watch'
\nand began trying to repair damage to the bay by limiting fishing,
\nrehabilitating mangroves, creating marine sanctuaries and
\ncollectively guarding the area.<\/p>\n
At least four marine sanctuaries, where no fishing or
\ntampering with coral reefs is allowed, have been created and
\nanother 10 sites planned. Buoys mark off waters near the coast
\nwhere even small-scale fishing is banned. This had begun to
\nincrease small fishermen's catch some distance from the coast.<\/p>\n
Old culverts have been submerged in the bay to allow coral to
\nregenerate, and town officials taught scuba diving to help
\nprotect the bay. Residents are asked to cut back on fishing
\nduring spawning time, and to refrain from catching immature fish
\nand using cyanide or dynamite to catch fish.<\/p>\n
Because the General Santos and Sarangani areas are part of a
\ngrowth area, parts of the bay's 400-hectars coastline are being
\ndeveloped into prawn farms of industrial zones. This has damaged
\nmangroves which protect coastal areas, because mud and leaf
\nlitter between land and water contain nutrients for fish fry.<\/p>\n
'Sarangani Bay Watch' has larger plans for a revived bay, more
\nthan just a source of fish. The Philippines' southernmost bay is
\nlargely unknown because of its distance from the capital and
\nMindanao's perception as an unsafe place, but supporters swear by
\nits potential as a world-class dive site and tourist spot.<\/p>\n
Economist Ronald Sison of the Louis Berger International firm
\nthat drew up the region's growth plan and which is wooing foreign
\ninvestors proves this point by showing two vials containing beach
\nsand, one from Sarangani and another from Boracay island, whose
\nbeaches are popular with European and U.S.tourists.<\/p>\n
Says Sison: \"Let me tell you that the whiter sand come from
\nright here, from Sarangani Bay.\"<\/p>\n
-- IPS<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-saving-tuna-for-tomorrow-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }