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Released Date - January 29, 2010
PHILIPPINES – TUNA BAN: B/WORLD PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 29 Jan 2010
Tuna industry reels from Pacific ban, jobless workers on the rise
29 JANUARY 2010 GENERAL SANTOS CITY ( BUSINESS WORLD) ----- Local tuna players in the Philippines are feeling the pinch of the closure of the high seas in portions of the Pacific Ocean, with one fishing company informing the Labor department that it was stopping work for six months, a top Labor official confirmed on Monday.
Ma. Gloria A. Tango, DoLE-Central Mindanao director, said NH Agro Industrial Corp., a member of the South Cotabato Purse-Seiners Association (SOCOPA), had informed them that 208 workers had been affected by the temporary work suspension as a result of the ban imposed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).
“We've started the profiling of affected workers for possible assistance not just from our agency but from the local government unit. The fill-up forms, which were coursed through the SOCOPA, are expected to be returned to us within the week,” she said in an interview.
NH Agro also operates the Drewzel Shipyard and Services, Inc., which handles fresh tuna cargo, data from the Philippine Ports Authority showed. NH Agro officials were not immediately available for comment.
The WCPFC has ordered a two-year closure of pockets of the high seas in the Pacific Ocean effective Jan. 1 to purse seine fishing, which normally uses fish aggregating devices to catch tuna stocks.
Ms Tango said they were expecting more local fishing companies to be affected by the ban.
Citing industry data, the Labor official said there were about 50 local fishing companies based here, and 13 of them have licenses to fish in the high seas covered by the purse seine ban.
But only five of the 13 have fishing agreements with Pacific island nations like Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Ms Tango added.
This means there are eight affected fishing companies that have to be back in Philippine waters with an estimated total work force of 1,600 people, she said.
Last week, Patricio L. Blanza, head of the Labor department's General Santos City and Sarangani offices, said Phillips Seafoods Philippines Corp. had written them about stopping for three months, with 29 workers affected.
“There's no sufficient volume of yellowfin and bigeye tuna species for their processing operations,” Mr Blanza told a local TV network.
Phillips Seafoods, which processes and exports frozen tuna products, was also forced to suspend operations to curb losses, Mr Blanza said.
Ms Tango said they were still find out whether the temporary closure of Phillips Seafoods had something to do with the WCPFC ban, which does not cover handline fishing, or those that employ hook-and-line to catch large tuna stocks.
Phillips Seafoods and other small processors normally get their tuna supplies from the handline sector. Calls to the company's office went unanswered.
Bayani B. Fredeluces, executive director of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc., said the federation expected more workers in the fishing sector to become jobless in the next few months.
Members of the SOCOPA, one of the seven organizations under the umbrella of the federation, had committed during a meeting in December to comply with the closure order issued by the WCPFC, he said. The international governing body issued the order to allow yellowfin and bigeye tuna species to replenish.
“Workers losing their jobs are one of the direct impacts of that closure order that we see coming,” Mr Fredeluces said
An initial forecast released earlier by the federation said tuna catch from purse seine fishing was projected to decline by a fifth as a result of the closure …PNS (ENDS) |
