Greenpeace International backs fishing ban

Greenpeace International has assailed the government’s campaign to reopen an area of the western Pacific Ocean to commercial tuna fishing, saying it would be a “counterproductive” move as those waters are on the brink of being overfished for tuna.

“The proposal to open the high-seas pockets is a short-sighted one that will only serve to compromise the reputation of Philippine tuna globally and unravel years of efforts to conserve tuna stocks for the long-term benefit of Philippine fishing fleets, jobs and food security,” said Sari Tolvanen, oceans campaigner of Greenpeace.

Tolvanen was in Manila last week to dissuade Philippine officials from pushing their proposal to open Pocket 1 of the western Pacific Ocean at a Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting next month.

Mark Dia, Greenpeace country representative, said it would be “counterproductive” of the Philippines to lift the fishing ban as this would further reduce fish stocks.

Tolvanen noted that the average size of the tuna caught in the western Pacific had steadily declined over the years.

Dia urged the government to establish bilateral trade ties with the Pacific Island states to allow Philippine fleets to fish in their waters. “They should work with the Pacific Island nations to work on regional marine management,” he said.

The Philippines has announced that it would make a deal with Palau. In exchange for access to Palau’s rich fishing waters, the Philippines would sell them agricultural produce at preferential rates.

The Philippines is one of the world’s top tuna harvesters, after Japan and South Korea.

In January 2010, the WCPFC imposed a fishing ban in the high seas to allow the big-eye and yellow fin tuna to spawn unhampered. According to scientists, the two species are at risk of being overfished.

The ban on tuna fishing in the Pacific has caused a slowdown in the canneries in Mindanao. Tuna is one of the Philippines’ major exports, with markets in the United States and Europe.

Data released Sunday by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that tuna production had been declining since 2008.

According to the BAS, the big-eye tuna catch drastically decreased over the last years. In 2008, production was at 35,140.52 metric tons (MT). In 2010, it was at 11,645 MT. Yellow fin production was down to 147,274 MT in 2010, from 168,410 MT in 2008.