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)

EU Sanitation Experts Arriving In Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 07 Oct) – A five-man team of health and sanitation experts from the European Union are expected to arrive in the Philippines to monitor compliance of processors of fisheries products being exported to European market.

“A five-man technical team from the Food and Veterinary Office (VFO) of EU will be conducting inspection of premises of manufacturers of fisheries products from October 16 to 27,” said Consuelo C. Baltazar, head of Administrative Support and Product Certification Unit of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

Baltazar said the inspectors will also evaluate BFAR’s food control program and system to implement EU Council Directive pertaining to the production and marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products from the Philippines for export to the EU countries.

The VFO, which is part of EU’s Directorate General Health and Consumer Protection, ensures that European Council legislation on food safety and quality are properly enforced by Third World Countries, like the Philippines.

The technical mission is task to ensure that Third World Countries exporting fisheries’ products to the European market have public health legislation and controls for the fisheries sector which are equivalent to those existing in EU legislation.

She explained that fishing establishments – manufacturers, preprocessing plants, cold storage facilities and other firms involved in fish supply chain will have to undergo a thorough inspection and monitoring to determine compliance to the EU requirements, specifically to the new Food and Feed Hygiene Rule.

She said: “The EU has the highest standards in hygiene and sanitation that is why if local stakeholders are able to pass the stringent requirements they will have easy access to other export markets like US, Canada and Japan.”

At present, she said, there are 23 fish establishments in the country that are EU approved manufacturers of fisheries products.

In Mindanao, there are 11 fish processors (four for Region 9 and eleven for Region 12) which passed the EU requirements.

She said the country previously had 97 fish processors which were authorized to export to EU, but 74 firms had been de-listed. Some processing plants have opted to cater to non-EU countries.

The EU, however, is obliged to extend assistance to exporting countries to help them meet the EU requirements. EU is also providing financial and technical assistance to Filipino manufacturers.

Under the Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA), the EU has allocated 3.9 million Euros for technical and financial assistance, which include upgrading of facilities and technical training.

The EU countries have recognized the need to provide assistance to Third World countries to enhance capabilities of manufacturers to comply with the requirements, she said.

In 2004, the country had recorded 2 import alerts in the Rapid Alert System for food and feed of the VFO due to the presence of residue of chloro-amphenicol, nicol and histamine in sardines, she disclosed.

Then in 2005, four alerts were recorded involving one processing company due to the presence of carbon monoxide in tuna; while for this year, one alert was again recorded involving histamine in canned tuna. These alerts, however, have been rectified.

The country is exporting canned tuna, frozen octopus and shrimps and pasteurized shrimp paste to the European Community, she said. (Mindanao Examiner)