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Philippines eyes re-fleeting in tuna industry
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is looking at upgrading and modernizing the fishing fleets of the tuna industry to be able to compete in the global market.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said re-fleeting is the way forward and the best option to ensure that the local commercial fishing sector can compete with the rest of the world.
“Technologies and innovations will propel the sector to a higher level. If you don’t use the most appropriate and sustainable technologies of today, the level of productivity that we so desire, will be far-fetched,” Dar said.
“Big fleets equipped with modern processing and canning facilities can provide a great advantage for the Philippine fishing industry,” he also said.
Last year, total volume of fisheries production was estimated at 4.35 million metric tons, 0.92 percent higher than its previous year’s level of 4.31 MMT.
In particular, the volume of yellowfin tuna production totalled 94,180 MT, roughly 12 percent less than the total output of 106,920 thousand MT in 2017.
The agri chief has directed the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to work with the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines to explore lending windows for re-fleeting of current commercial fishing vessels to support the tuna industry.
Aside from re-fleeting, other strategies to sustain the tuna industry include promotion of fishery exports, consolidation of small- and medium-sized fish farms, infrastructure development, higher budget and investment, legislative support, and commercial fishery roadmap development.
Despite the hurdles faced by the fishing industry, Dar said the Philippines remains one of the top tuna producers in the world and one of the largest exporters of processed tuna.
Currently, the Philippines is the leading tuna exporter to the European Union, mainly in Germany and UK.
About 38 percent of the total national marine tuna is in South Cotabato of which General Santos, the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines” is located.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/09/09/1950225/philippines-eyes-re-fleeting-tuna-industry#l8xOjG5uHTQgv7bx.99