Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 25) — The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) and the Canned Sardines Association of the Philippines (CSAP) on Monday signed an agreement to ensure a continuous supply of sardines for the coming closed fishing season.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) is a result of recommendations raised by various sardine industry stakeholders to mainly engage selected registered municipal fisherfolk groups to sustain the supply of sardines.
“Aside from sustaining, and ultimately increasing, the supply of sardines for canneries, the MOA intends to capacitate municipal fisherfolk on proper fish handling, food safety standards, and processing technologies,” said DA-BFAR officer-in-charge Demosthenes Escoto.
The closed fishing season this November forbids the catching of sardines, herring (Clupeidae) and mackerel (Scombridae) within conservation areas.
By Nov. 1, catching of the fish species in the Visayan Sea will be prohibited, Nov. 15 in the Palawan Sea, and Dec. 1 in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
The period will run for three months to allow these types of fish to reproduce and the fry to mature.
According to the memo, sardine manufacturers under the CSAP must observe fair trade in negotiating with identified small-scale fishers, as well as strictly comply with the terms and conditions in the Purchase Order.
DA-BFAR, on the other hand, will provide post-harvest support and needed equipment in landing sites where sardines will be consolidated.
“[We] are ensuring the employment of hundreds, if not thousands, of factory workers and adjacent industries when the canneries can continue to operate during the three-month fishing ban,” said CSAP President Benjamin Sy.
For its part, fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) said it will coordinate with its regional chapter in Bicol to monitor the farm-gate pricing of tamban, a local term for a collective species of herring, in Sorsogon province, which is among the areas covered by the agreement.
“Ang sunod na dapat tiyakin ng BFAR ay hindi babaratin ng mga komersyante ang produkto ng mga munisipal na mangingisda para maiwasan ang lalong pagkalugi,” said PAMALAKAYA national chairperson Fernando Hicap.
[Translation: BFAR must ensure also that merchants will not cheapen the products of municipal fishers to prevent further losses.]
In a statement on Tuesday, PAMALAKAYA said the farm-gate price of tamban must not be less than 70% of the retail price, which ranges from ₱120 to ₱130, for it to be favorable for local producers.
The group lamented that fisherfolk cannot endure any further income loss and demanded a “big-time rollback” on petroleum products as fishing costs mostly went to fuel expenses.
Oil companies are set to decrease per-liter prices of gasoline and diesel by ₱0.35 and ₱1.10 this week.
