Sardines group urges govt to act on ‘looming’ shortage

SARDINES industry stakeholders have urged the government to initiate a tripartite meeting to prevent a “looming” shortage of the fish product amid concerns, such as bad weather, that are affecting the current catch of vessels.

A group of sardine canners and representatives from municipal fishermen expressed openness toward brokering various measures and mechanisms that would ensure the sufficiency of the country’s sardine supply nationwide.

In a virtual press briefing, Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Canned Sardines Association of the Philippines, reiterated that his group is “anticipating” a “looming” shortage of sardines in the coming months in light of the annual closed fishing season.

Furthermore, Buencamino explained that bad weather conditions as well as unforeseen impacts of climate change have slashed commercial fishers’ catch to just 20 percent to 40 percent of what they were able to catch last year.

Buencamino added that sardines are currently moving toward

the shoreline as they chase planktons, which serves as the species’ food. Buencamino emphasized that since sardines are now nearer the shoreline, commercial fishers cannot catch them anymore since they are well within the 15-kilometer bound of the municipal waters.

Commercial vessels are not allowed to enter waters stretching 15 kilometers from the shoreline, which are considered as municipal waters, under existing laws and regulations.

“We do not dare to penetrate that. [It would be a] violation of the Fisheries Act. What we are saying is that we might have a shortage if we cannot have sufficient catch from now until November 30. We have to build up our inventories,” he said in a virtual press briefing organized by food security advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan on Monday.

2 options

BUENCAMINO said his group is looking at two possible options to ensure sufficient supply of sardines for their factories: entering into supply agreements with municipal fishers and seeking local government units’ approval to allow commercial vessels in municipal waters at 10.1-kilometer from the shoreline.

“LGUS should allow us to fish near the shore where there are more fish. We will make sure that it will not affect the municipal fishermen. We just need to get closer so we could build up our inventories before December 1. There will be a shortage if the issue is not addressed,” Buencamino said.

Ramon Magsaysay awardee Roberto Ballon, of Gamay ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion in Zamboanga, said he and fellow municipal fishermen are open to the canners’ group’s suggestions as long as they are discussed and negotiated in the proper avenue.

To this extent, Ballon and Buencamino said the government through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) must initiate the talks between sardines industry stakeholders to come up with a solid agreement with strong implementation mechanisms to ensure that canned sardines supply in the country are not disrupted.

Ballon also called on the government to provide assistance to municipal fishers to be able to catch more sardines, which they can in turn sell to the canners for profit. Ballon argued that if municipal fishers are well-equipped with the necessary gear, then they might be able to supply the canners with their much-needed sardines supply.

Municipal fishers are allowed to continue operations even during closed fishing season as long as they only catch mature fish stocks.

“We would need logistics support and facilities both in the production and harvest stages … We have what we call ‘pangulong’ (to cage) with small lights. We may use those instead of fishing nets that may damage the sardines’ fins,” said Ballon.

Buencamino estimates that the sardines canners industry requires at least 210,000 metric tons to 250,000 metric tons of sardines supply to meet domestic requirements for the canned product. However, he pointed out that the industry needs an additional 75,000 metric tons to 100,000 metric tons of sardines stocks to ensure buffer supply and even export to other countries.