Environmentalists have observed that continuous changes in climate lead to the decline of tunas catches globally. Mario Malinao, port manager of the Davao City Fish Port Complex (DCFPC), noted that falling levels of tuna loading and catches are in truth not attributable to foreign long-line vessels arriving in the port complex. He said that records show numbers of foreign fishing vessel also dropped but still the catches are declining.
The presence of local foreign fishing vessels also took a dive: from 2,635 from January to November of 2010 to 1,936 for the same period last year. At the same time, domestic fish catches jumped to 17 per cent from 2010 to 2011, with 436 tonnes from 2010 to 549 tonnes in 2011. Tuna industry players in Southern Mindanao are thus optimistic regarding this year’s catch.
According to Malinao the increase in domestic volume of fish unloading is also attributed to the catch per unit effort of these domestic vessels. He said the World Tuna Conference slated this year in Bankok, Thailand will allow different countries to share the steps they are taking to solve the problem of skidding tuna catches.
