Philippine tuna catch affected by El Nino

Fishermen unload Yellow fin tuna in General Santos City in the southern Philippines. Many fishermen complain of less tuna catch due to the warn weather brought about by the El Nino phenomenon. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 4, 2010) – Tuna catch is declining in the southern Philippines as the warm climate continues to affect the ocean’s temperature.

Fishermen said their catch declined the past months and they blamed the weather phenomenon known as El Nino.

Nathaniel Cruz, of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said the warm weather is due to the El Nino effect. He said the prevailing temperature in Metro Manila is between 34.5-35.5 °C. “We expect warmer weather due to the effect of the El Nino,” he said over the weekend.

El Nino is associated with floods, droughts and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world, which vary with each event. The Philippines like any other developing countries dependent upon agriculture and fishing, particularly those bordering the Pacific Ocean, are the most affected.

“Our catch is less because the weather is so hot. We have less tuna catch as compared to the previous month. This is because of the El Nino. If the weather is good, then the catch is also good – it is too hot now,” a local tuna fisherman Pedro Reyes told the Mindanao Examiner.

Reyes is one of dozens who regularly unload their tuna catch in General Santos City, which is home to the country’s second biggest fish port after Navotas City in Luzon Island.

And other fishermen also complained about the tuna catch and the warm ocean water that affected their once abundant catch. “I know this situation will not last long, but it is already killing us. Less catch means less money,” said Bernie Santiago, a trawler operator.

Yellow fin tuna – many “sashimi grade” and the size of an adult man - is what the fishermen were all talking about in General Santos City. It fetches far more money than any other fish. And at the fish port, traders bargain with fishermen for the prized catch which goes all the way as far as Japan and European markets.

The Philippines is rank 7th among the top tuna producing countries in the world, both in terms of fresh and frozen and canned tuna.

According to the local government website, the total daily catch of adult and juvenile tuna unloaded in General Santos City can surpass that of any other fish port or even the entire unloading of all other fish ports in the Philippines combined. The daily catch is easily disposed for foreign and local buyers.

General Santos City being the sanctuary of seven tuna canning factories has an average daily capacity of 750 tons.

It said about 45% of the tuna catch are skipjack, about 25% are yellow fin, and 23% are frigate and bullet tuna. Around 60% of the ring net landings supplied to the local canneries, 35% is brought out of General Santos City to local domestic fish markets and the remaining 5 % is consumed locally.

The average number of boats that come to the local fish port on a daily average is about 25 and mostly fishing from as far as borders of Indonesia and Palau Islands. The catch according to the fishermen usually consists of 95% yellow fin, 3% big-eye, and 2% billfish. (Mindanao Examiner)

Mindanao crops damaged by El Nino

A vegetable farmer Loloy Abalan tills his dried land Friday, March 5, 2010 in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines which is experiencing widespread blackout brought about by low water levels in hydro power plants in the region due to the El Nino phenomenon. Abalan says the long dry spell is forcing many farmers to abandon their lands and look for an alternative source of livelihood. President Gloria Arroyo has declared a power crisis in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 5, 2010) – Some P300 million worth of crops had been damaged by the El Nino phenomenon in western Mindanao on top of the power crisis in the Zamboanga region.

The Department of Agriculture said some 3,000 hectares of farm lands were affected by the long dry spell. Worst hit by the El Nino are the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte.

The three provinces are known rice and corn producers in Mindanao and water from irrigation system are not enough to supply the farms. And reservoirs are fast drying up and so were artesian wells where farmers get water for their lands.

In Zamboanga City, agriculture officials said they are planning to resort to cloud seeding to induce rains in areas where farm lands are drying up. Even vegetable farmers are complaining about the dry spell.

“We are having difficulty now. My vegetable farm is fast drying and even our artesian well is drying up now. We don’t know what to do and I just pray that there will be rains in the coming days,” said Loloy Abala, a farmer.

Zamboanga is also experiencing as much as 6 hours of blackout the past weeks because of low water levels in hydro power plants in Mindanao supplying electricity to many areas in the region.

The local electric cooperative said there is a plan to put up a coal-fired power plant to augment the increasing power requirement in Zamboanga City.

Betty Marquez, a spokeswoman for the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, said there are proposals to put up a fossil-fuel power station here because of the increased demand for electricity.

Coal-fired units produce electricity by burning coal in a boiler to heat water to produce steam. The steam, at tremendous pressure, flows into a turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. The steam is cooled, condensed back into water, and returned to the boiler to start the process over. But environmentalists say the coal-fueled plants will pollute the air and contribute to global warming.

There are at least 9 coal-fired power plants in the country – six in Luzon Island, two in the Visayas in central Philippines and one in Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

Marquez said the daily power consumption of Zamboanga City is about 78 megawatts and at present the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has been supplying only half of the total requirements of the local electric cooperative because of the El Nino weather phenomenon which is affecting the whole country.

“The El Nino is really affecting us all, not only the local electric cooperative, but many power providers, and even the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines which is supplying at least eight others electric cooperatives in Mindanao,” Marquez said.

El Nino is associated with floods, droughts and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world, which vary with each event. The Philippines like any other developing countries dependent upon agriculture and fishing, particularly those bordering the Pacific Ocean, are the most affected.

Marquez said the low water level at Lake Lanao is also aggravating the supply of electricity in Mindanao because it affects the hydropower plant in Iligan City.

“Right now, all we can say to everybody is to conserve electricity and wait for the rains to come,” she said, adding, the dry spell is expected to last until June.

Of Zamboanga City’s 98 villages, at least 90 percent have rotational blackout lasting from one hour to as long as six hours every day from the previous two hours.

Marquez said the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines which supplies electricity simply cannot cope up with the power demands.

President Gloria Arroyo on Thursday declared a power crisis in Mindanao.(Mindanao Examiner)

Pinas, Nahaharap Sa Kalamidad!

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 26 Jul) – Agad na pinakilos kaninan ng National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) ang lahat ng regional units nito upang maglatag ng kaukulang mga hakbang laban sa nakaambang nagtuyot, lalo na sa Luzon.

Ito'y kasunod na rin ng apela ng Pangulong Gloria Arroyo para sa pagtitipid ng tubig makaraang bumaba na sa kritikal na antas ang tubig sa mga pangunahing dam sa bansa.

Nabatid kay Office of the Civil Defense spokesman Dr. Anthony Golez na naglunsad na ng information drive para sa water conservation ang NDCC, gayundin ang tungkol sa global warming at pagbabago ng klima na dahilan ng pagtuyot. Magpapatuloy rin aniya ang cloud seeding operations, partikular sa bisinidad ng mga dam.

Ang pag-ulan na naranasan kahapon sa ilang bahagi ng Metro Manila ay epekto ng cloud seeding. Tinatayang mahigit sa P100,000 ang ginugol sa bawat cloud seeding operation.

"We are telling the public not to panic. The NDCC will be proactive. The NDCC is preparing for an impending drought," ani Golez. "All government agencies are going to mobilize their resources to mitigate the effects of the drought," dagdag nito.

Bukod sa matagalang brown out tulad nang naranasan noong 1990s, maaaring magdulot rin ng red tide at outbreak ng mga sakit ang tagtuyot. "Three million people were affected by the drought in 1990s. The cost of damage amounted to billions," ayon sa tagapagsalita.

Kabilang sa mga lugar na direktang maaapektuhan ng tagtuyot ay ang Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, at Central Luzon, ilang bahagi ng Metro Manila, Southern Luzon, at Bicol Region.

Ngunit taliwas naman ang sitwasyon sa Mindanao dahil halos bahain naman ang maraming lugar doon dahil sa patuloy na pagbuhos ng malakas na ulan. Baha na rin sa malaking bahagi ng Maguindanao at lubog sa tubig ang mga taniman at palayan doon.

Sa Zamboanga City ay binaha rin ang ilang lugar dahil sa malakas na pagulan kanina at kamakalawa. (Juley Reyes)