The Philippines is pushing for the extension of access in Pacific fishing ground to halt the harvest of young tuna.
Local fishing companies denied access in that area are fishing in Philippine seas where the tuna population is young.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala addressing the 9th session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Manila said that it would be a win-win solution for both parties.
By extending our access, we can prevent overfishing of juvenile tuna population within our EEZ. This would also ensure that our fishing vessels operating at the high seas pocket 1 would comply with the guidelines set by the commission, he said.
The Philippines serves as a vital breeding and nursery ground for many migratory fish species, particularly tuna.
But with the closure of high seas, Filipinos are fishing at the EEZ, which threatened to further deplete the existing tuna stock of the entire Pacific region.
Earlier, the Philippines was granted with a special four-month access to high seas pocket 1 (from October 2012 to February 2013) on a condition that it would uphold conservation and management measures established by the WCPFC.
At present, only 11 out of 36 catcher vessels were allowed by the Philippine government access to the high seas.
Asis Perez, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), said that they have yet to approve the remaining catcher vessels, noting that operators are still in the process of complying with the provision of special management area in high seas pocket 1.
These catch vessels have to comply with set provision for allocation of fishing access, including the observer coverage, vessel monitoring system, reporting landing, catch limits net mesh size and the use of fish aggregating devices, Perez added.
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), on the other hand, called for the indefinite closure of the high seas pocket to all fishing vessels until the WCPFC comes up with decisive conservation and management measures.
We believe that the WCPFC is not doing enough to implement measures to stop overfishing of various tuna species. Our position is to close the high seas pocket until proper conservation and management measures are in place, or raised the standard to those exempted from the closure, said PNA chairman Nanette Malsol.
Malsol stressed that the PNA is sick of foreign fishing nations continually arguing for special exemptions from rules and generally continue with business as usual attitude.
For this year’s WCPFC meeting, the PNA which includes the Federated States of Miconesia, Kiribati, Mashal Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, and Tuvalu is proposing for cut in overfishing of bigeye tuna, limit the use of fish aggregating devices and indefinite closure of the high seas.
The Pacific Island nations is also pushing for the reduction of the so-called burden of conservation, time, government resources and finance needed from them to participate in WCPFC decisions and enforcement in their jurisdiction.
The situation is simply unfair and has to stop, Malsol said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Glenn Hurry, executive director of the WCPTC, said they expect to come up with various conservation measures that would ensure sustainable fishing of four major tuna species including Skipjack, Bigeye, Yellow fin and Bluefin tuna.
Hurry also said that they are now discussing the moratorium on the use of fish aggregating devices (FAD) , which may be implemented as early as February 2013.
The WCPTC official issued the statement amid concerns by environmental groups that the growing and unregulated deployment of tens of thousands of drifting FADs in the world’s oceans with little to no oversight has become extremely worrisome.
According to the Pew Environment Group, an estimated 47,000 to 105,000 FADs are currently in use worldwide to catch tuna and other species of fish.
FADs are used by fisherman to attract tuna and other species of fish. They often extend 50 meters below the surface and can be made from a variety of materials, including bamboo floats, plastic ribbons, and old nets.
FADs can be adrift for years at a time and attract a wide variety of marine life including skipjack tuna, sharks, billfish, juvenile yellowfin and bigeye tuna.
Amanda Nickson, director of tuna conservation at Pew, said that FAD fishing is widespread and growing because of its increased efficiencythe devices allow more fish to be caught with less effort.
This method is used to catch almost half of the world’s tuna and is contributing to the overfishing of bigeye tuna across the Pacific Ocean. In addition, sea turtles, sharks and juvenile fish are often caught and killed in the process of FAD fishing; hundreds of species are attracted by the floating devices, Nickson said.
Scientists are unclear about the overall impact of wide-scale FAD use on the marine ecosystem, yet the devices are being deployed in record numbers. Additionally, thousands of drifting FADs are lost or abandoned by fishing vessels every year, compounding an already serious marine debris problem.
The fishing industry is not currently required to account for its use of FADs. It is being allowed to gamble with the health of the ocean, and it is time for governments to require full accountability and management of this proliferating and risky fishing gear, said Nickson.
Pew estimate was obtained from data gathered from published scientific literature, industry expertise and documents from regional fisheries management organizations that oversee tuna fisheries.
2012 Malaya Business News Online – Philippine Business News