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Monday, September 05, 2005
Gov't confident of renewal of fisheries pact with Indonesia
By Allen V. Estabillo
THE government is optimistic that it could pull off a viable fishing arrangement with Indonesia before the expiration of a bilateral fishing agreement they forged more than three years ago.
Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban said a series of high-level discussions would be held over the next few weeks, focusing on the possible extension or the forging of a new fishing agreement.
"I will sit down in a one-on-one meeting with my Indonesian counterpart later this month and I'm very positive that he will listen to us," he said in a press conference here this morning.
Panganiban is on a two-day swing here to grace the 7th National Tuna Congress that opened Friday.
The agriculture secretary said the government would present some partnership proposals with Indonesia, focusing on the exchange of modern fishing technologies and joint venture fishing and tuna canning deals.
Aside from the extension of the bilateral agreement, he said they would also seek for the increase of the current 75 fishing licenses Indonesia had granted to local fishing companies.
"While Indonesia is tightening its access regulations, I am optimistic that since our fishing fleet is more advanced, we can still succeed in gaining access to its tuna grounds and hopefully get at least 60 to 40 percent share of tuna catch," he pointed out.
Panganiban assured that the extension of the bilateral fishing accord with Indonesia is one of their priorities as it would spell the sustainability of the country's tuna industry in a long-term basis.
Marfenio Tan, president of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing Associations and allied Industries Inc., said the non-extension of the bilateral fishing agreement would hurt the local tuna industry.
"If the Indonesian government decides not to extend the bilateral agreement, it will affect the local tuna industry by 25 percent. Non-extension of the agreement will not kill the industry but it would somehow spell some problems with local tuna supply and employment," he said.
Tan said the Indonesian government already released a notice of termination for the three-year bilateral agreement, which expires on December 2.
Local officials and tuna industry players, led by the fishing federation, earlier raised serious concerns over the looming expiration of the bilateral agreement citing that the area's tuna industry depends much on the operations of local fishing fleets in the Indonesian waters.
These fishing companies, which land an average of more than 1,000 metric tons of fish daily, supply the bulk of the area's tuna landings that are primarily delivered to the seven tuna canneries based in the city.
In November 2001, the Philippines and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding on fisheries cooperation which eventually paved the way for a fisheries agreement that covered fishing, aquaculture, marine research, conservation, education and training.
The arrangement provided licenses to the Philippines for 75 catcher vessels, 150 fish carriers, 20 long liners, 300 light boats, and 10 single purse seiners, and allows access to the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas of the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone.
(September 5, 2005 issue)
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