February 6, 2008 | 12:00am
According to IDEA’s latest Industry Reports, for the first time last year, tuna catch dwindled. Estimates of how much the catch dwindled and the causes of it vary. Some of the fishermen attribute it to the warmer weather that force the tunas to go deeper and hence are more difficult to catch. Others attribute it to over-fishing that usually takes place in purse seining, in which huge nets scoop up fish by the score. Given the pressures on the industry, there have been proposals to increase unloading, refrigeration and processing facilities at General Santos, and to lure away the “super seiners” from Thailand that can carry up to 5,000 tons of fish in their hold.
On poultry industry, it was reported by IDEA that imports of birds, poultry and poultry products from Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Benin are temporarily banned. The Department of Agriculture (DA) issued such order based on official confirmation that these countries are experiencing outbreak of the avian influenza cases. The ban covers all domestic and wild birds and their products, including day-old chicks, eggs and semen. Early on, the DA has prohibited the entry of all live bird and poultry imports from South Korea, the United Kingdom and Japan also due to the presence of bird flu in these countries. The ban on Japan was lifted in May after clearance from the Bureau of Animal Industry was received.
Then, on meat and dairy products. Tasked to reduce the country’s import dependence on carabao meat, milk and dairy products, the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) has been into massive cloning of embryos from a superior host-breed water buffalo imported from India, which is almost twice the size of a local carabao. A water buffalo from India can produce around 15 liters to 18 liters of milk a day, whereas a local breed can only produce 1.2 liters to 1.5 liters a day. Supervising science research specialist of the PCC Dr. Edwin C. Atabay said that the first batch of cloned embryos had signs of successful implantations but weeks after the embryo transfer, all four surrogate mothers seem to have had a miscarriage. The PCCI is targeting to clone 1,500 embryos from the “Super Buffalo” in the next nine months. The PCCI hopes to come up with the country’s first cloned carabao in two years.
Lastly, on Palm Oil. To control the Brontispa pest, a leaf beetle ravaging the coconut industry, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 664 in September 25, 2007. EO 664 prohibits the entry into, or transport across the country of seed nuts or seedlings of coconuts and other palm species, except when these planting materials have come from sources that the Philippine Coconut Authority accredited. Oil palmers in Zamboanga Peninsula are petitioning the exemption of imported old palm seedlings from EO 664. The petitioners argue that the said seedlings already pass through stringent measures in the import process to ensure they are free from any disease. Oil palm growers in southern Philippines source their seeds from Malaysia, Indonesia, and New Guinea.
(Mr. Ed F. Limtingco can be reached at 0917-7220521 or at [email protected])
