In the past decade, the members of the Fresh Frozen Seafood Association of the Philippines, Inc. (FFSAPI) have been faced with a growing demand in the export market for eco-labeled certified fish and seafood products particularly certification from the Marine Stewardship Council. In order to make it possible, the fishery of their suppliers should pass certification thus would need to undergo pre-assessment of the fishery. Thus, to remain competitive in the export market in this time of pandemic while ensuring long-term sustainability of resources, FFSAPI commissioned the preparation of the pre-assessment of the small and medium scale YELLOW FIN and BIGEYE TUNA HANDLINE FISHERIES of Sargen Fish Port Tuna Handline Fishing Association, Incorporated (SARGEN HANDLINE) in the Fisheries Management Areas 2 and 3 of the Philippines..
The pre-assessment was done by Rosanna Bernadette Contreras of Contreras Professional Consultancy Corp., the engaged Consultant for the project. The preassessment is being reviewed by Key Traceability, a UK based consultancy specializing in MSC assessments and FIPs. The review is being done by Kat Collinson, Tom Evans, and Emily Wardrop. Collinson and Evans are both listed technical consultants on the MSC register.
In general, with the highly selective nature of the fishery, there is a great potential to pass certification with conditions relating to adoption of harvest strategy and harvest control rules at the regional level and improvement on data collection. The target stocks, yellowfin and bigeye are not overfished and not experiencing overfishing. Necessary legal framework and fishery-specific objectives and plan, both at the national and regional levels are in place to support the sustainability of the fishery.
However, the inability to provide catch reports or log sheets that can be verified through VMS tracks, validation upon loading, and the like, renders too much uncertainty in the fishery, especially its impact on by-catch species and bait fishery, interaction with endangered, threatened and protected species. There are identified areas for research such as impacts of use of fish aggregating devices in habitats, impacts on by-catch and ecosystem modelling to obtain more information on the fishery that will be bases for policy formulations. Compliance and enforcement of laws are areas for improvement. Thus, there is a need for improvement of the fishery in order to pass certification.
The Philippines abides to internationally binding and non-binding treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) and Food and Agriculture Organizations’ Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas. At the WCPFC, Philippines, as a member, signed the Convention Text which provided framework to ensure sustainability of fisheries without jeopardizing rights of small fishers and small island developing states. The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 amended by Republic Act 10654, an Act to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, provides legal framework that protects the rights of fishers while conserving and maintaining sustainability of the fishery in the light of providing food security. The National Tuna Management Plan of 2018 provides for fishery-specific goals and objectives for the tuna industry using the Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management. However, while adjudication and dispute settlement mechanism are in place and even if BFAR MCS efforts have improved in the recent years, there still remains room for improvement to ensure compliance to rules and regulations specially by the handline industry. Public-private concerted effort is needed to improve on this aspect.
The preassessment resulted to 2 performance indicators under Principle 1 for both yellowfin and bigeye scoring 60-79. Under Principle 2, 12 performance indicators are scored below 60 and 3 with 60-79. 3 performance indicators of the fishery were scored 60-79 with 1 below 60.
Based on the identified gaps or deficiencies of the fishery, the Fishery Improvement Plan was prepared towards MSC Certification of the Yellowfin and Bigeye Tuna Fisheries for their supplier group, Sargen Fish Port Tuna Handline Fishing Association, Incorporated.
The FFSAPI-SARGEN HANDLINE Fisheries Improvement Project is a collaboration of FFSAPI and SARGEN HANDLINE with other handline tuna stakeholders particularly the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc., with the support of the Local Government of General Santos City, research, and academic institutions to include the Mindanao State University-General Santos City. The implementation is envisioned to be finished in five (5) years with initial estimated cost of Php 283 million.
The Contreras Professional Consultancy Corp. (CPCC) is the implementing team commissioned to carry out, coordinate and facilitate the activities of the FIP.
