Creation of separate fisheries dep’t pushed; Senate sets hearing

The creation of a separate department that will manage and regulate the fisheries sector is now being pushed for as the current government structure doesn’t allow the sub-industry to prosper.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, is set to conduct the first hearing on separate measures seeking to create Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) tomorrow (September 15).

Pangilinan said he wants a new Cabinet-level agency that is separated from the Department of Agriculture to manage the fisheries sector.

“The DA is able to fulfill its mandate for aquamarine and fisher folk but in a limited sense. We should correct this by creating a high-level government agency that will focus on this,” Pangilinan said.

“Four-fifths of our territory is aquamarine, only one-fifth is land, but in the DA budget, the ratio is the other way around: 90 percent is for land and 10 percent only for aquamarine,” he added.

As of now, the fisheries and aquatic sub-sectors is being regulated and watched over by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency to DA.

It is being headed by Undersecretary for Fisheries and BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan fears that Philippines may soon lose its status as the world’s major exporter of seaweed product carrageenan. “We are the number 1 exporter of carrageenan in the entire planet. Carrageenan is a seaweed. It’s used for pharmaceuticals. The capsules are made from seaweed. But our market share is now lower because Vietnam provides better support and therefore produces better yields,” he said.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines is among the world's biggest exporters of carrageenan, an input in meat processing, processed food, dairy products, condiments, personal care products, and pet food products.

The country is also well-known as a leading producer of this seaweed derivative that the international market.

Carrageenan is also used as an ingredient in air freshener, oral care, pharmaceutical products, biotechnology research, and other industrial consumer product applications.

It is used in a variety of commercial applications such as gelling, thickening and stabilizing agents, especially in food products such as chocolate milk, cottage cheese, frozen desserts, yogurt, pet foods, and sauces.