From almost every camp, we hear of shortage in numerous food products, most of them we used to produce for our local market. Yet now, nobody seems to talk of ample or sufficient supply anymore. What is more vogue among agriculture officials, traders and importers is we are short of almost everything we put on the table—onions, garlic, sugar, salt, fish, pork, veggies. Nothing escapes market manipulation anymore.
Now fisherfolk are warning us not to believe in a fake or artificial shortage of sardines (tamban or Indian sardines) being peddled by the fishing firms and canneries.
In a press statement, Pamalakaya said the supposed low supply and output of tamban was just being made up by fishing firms and operators supposedly to increase the retail prices of canned sardines and to push for their vessels’ entry into municipal waters, which is reserved for coastal or municipal fishers.
“The BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) should remain vigilant against this fabricated tamban shortage that will only favor big fishing firms and operators over the interests of small fishers and consumers,” Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap said.
He mentioned that BFAR earlier reported a 222.58 percent sufficiency in tamban during the first quarter, thus a supposed shortage is impossible.
Pamalakaya asserted that commercial fishing vessels, those weighing 3.1 gross tons and above, should be restricted within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing grounds from the coastline.
“The municipal waters should remain as it is – exclusive to small fisherfolk,” Hicap said.
While the existing fisheries law declared municipal waters for small fishers, commercial fishing vessels are still able to enter in some areas “because they are either owned by or conniving with local government units (LGUs).
The DA said the BFAR has forecasted annual sardine (tamban) production to reach 293,431 metric tons, covering the national demand of 101,367 MT. This production comes from commercial and municipal fishers, at 208,387 MT and 85,043 MT, respectively.
The DA also cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the BFAR showing that the sufficiency level for sardines is pegged at 222.58 percent for the first quarter and 409.06 percent for the second quarter.
The DA attributed the stable sardine supply to the effective implementation of the National Sardine Management Plan (NSMP), a five-year plan which harmonizes all the policies and programs on sardines, including conservation measures such as the closed fishing seasons.
BFAR should stick to what is provided in RA 10654 of the amended Fisheries Code by not acceding to the canners’ request to open municipal waters to commercial fishing vessels to address the alleged looming sardines’ shortage.
The law states that small and medium commercial fishing vessels may be allowed to operate within the 10.1 to 15 kilometers from the shoreline in municipal waters provided that the LGU enacts a municipal ordinance allowing their operation.