As the government is not paying heed to the grant of tuna companies request for a P5-per-liter discount on fuel products, the companies mull over direct imports of fuel. Marfenio Tan, chairman of the 10th Tuna Congress which opened here Wednesday, expressed that the fuel consumption is eating up between 45 and 70 percent of the operating costs of purse seine operators and small tuna hand line fishermen, depending on the size of the fishing boat and make of the engine.
According to him high fuel prices might force small boat owners to abandon tuna fishing. He informed that the companies claimed that rising fuel costs is the primary culprit in the notable decline of landed tuna catch at the General Santos City Fish Port complex. GSC fish port manager Mike Lamberte reportedly told tuna producers that the volume of catch landed at the fishing port plunged by 34 percent in the first half of the year. The Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries (SFFAI Inc.) states that General Santos City is producing around 400,000 metric tons of tuna products every year.
Philippines produces over 400,000 metric tons of fresh, canned and processed tuna every year generating more than US$280 million in annual export revenues. Malcolm Samiento, director Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, told that the tuna industry consumes 18 to 20 million liters of petroleum products a month, which make it the single largest consumer of fuel products in the whole of Central Mindanao.
According to the tuna industry if given a discount of P5 per liter on fuel products, the industry could save as much as P1.2 billion in operating costs in one year. Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras informed that under the Oil Deregulation law, big oil consumers are already allowed to directly import their fuel requirements. He also told that the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, in coordination with the Department of Energy, has started the process of identifying fishing companies and industry associations interested to take advantage of the opportunity.
