Phl gets continued access to Pacific Ocean tuna stocks

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has been granted extended fishing access to Pocket 1 of the Pacific Ocean until 2014 by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Asis Perez said 36 Philippine fishing vessels were allowed to continue operations in High Seas Pocket 1 from March 2013 to Feb. 28, 2014.

Member states of the WCPFC reached a consensus to grant the extension during its 9th session in Manila which was concluded on Dec. 6.

Last March, the WCPFC granted the Philippines special access to the High Seas Pocket 1 from October to Feb. 28, 2013 with the condition that it would implement conservation measures.

The WCPFC is composed of 24 member countries, seven territories and 11 cooperating non-member countries that bind together to ensure the proper management of tuna stocks in the western and central areas of the Pacific Ocean.

The Philippines sought an extension of fishing access amid calls by Pacific countries to impose tighter tuna conservation measures in the high seas including controls on fish aggregating devices and closure of pockets where there is overfishing. 

In its petition, the Philippines argued that by extending the country’s fishing access in the high seas, overfishing of juvenile tuna population within the Philippine exclusive economic zone would be prevented. 

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala earlier said that the country sent a good signal to the WCPFC by implementing strict fisheries conservation measures such as the implementation of the fishing ban in the Visayas Seas and the re-imposition of the fishing ban in the Zamboanga Peninsula to increase the spawning areas of sardines and herring (tamban).

The fishing ban in the Zamboanga Peninsula would be re-implemented from Dec. 1, 2012 to Feb. 28, 2013. The closed season in the Visayan Seas, on the other hand, would be implemented from Nov. 15, 2012 to Feb. 14, 2013.

A fishing ban was imposed in the Zamboanga peninsula from December 2011 to February 2012.

Perez said that with the grant of the extension, BFAR would require fishing vessels sailing to the high seas to install proper monitoring devices and use the appropriate net size to prevent catching of juvenile tuna.

“If in the last meeting we were able to bring home the tuna; this year, the Philippines was able to keep the tuna home,” Perez said.

With the grant of the extension, tuna production in the country is expected to rebound to its 2008 level. The country’s tuna production fell by at least 70,000 metric tons in the past three years due to the ban in tuna fishing in the high seas imposed by the WCPFC.