Gov't to shoulder int'l fees for local fishing fleets

The government plans to pay all Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) fees without private sector counterpart to provide relief to the fast-growing tuna industry that was hurt last semester by an array of global woes.

WCPFC fees totaled P3 million in 2007 and amounts to P4 million this year.

Exemption from the payment of the WCPFC fees, a proposed fuel discount and direct oil imports by commercial fishing companies are among the measures considered by Malacañang to provide immediate relief to the fishing industry and drive the fisheries sub-sector back to higher growth.

The proposed relief measures were announced by Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras on behalf of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap during the 10th Tuna Congress at the KCC Convention and Events Center in General Santos.

It was revealed that upon instructions of President Arroyo, the Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), would pay in full the WCFPC dues that private fishers are supposed to settle each year.

The DA pointed out that the prevailing fuel crisis has done much damage to the fishing industry, given that as high as 70 percent of the operating budgets of the country’s tuna fishing companies go to fuel expenses.

The DA has also successfully argued before the WCPFC the Philippines’ position on tuna transshipment at sea, “subject to certain conditions related to timely and complete submission of catch data and compliance with other resource management protocols.”

The WCPFC Convention generally bans tuna transshipment at sea, but the Philippines pointed out that the commission also allows special dispensation to countries that have historically transshipped in this manner.

A ban on tuna transshipment at sea would have seriously hurt the local tuna industry which is used to stationing catcher vessels in the areas of collection.

The catcher vessels pick up the catch from fishing boats and deliver directly to the target market.

President Arroyo has also directed the DA-BFAR and Department of Energy to work on other relief measures including fuel price discounts that can be possibly availed of from Petron which is partly owned by the government.

The BFAR and the DOE have started identifying the fishing companies that could be allowed to directly import their fuel requirements to help them reduce their operating expenses in the face of the sharp rise in crude oil prices.