Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Tuna fishers seek P5 per liter petrol discount By Edwin G. Espejo
BIG tuna producers and small fisher folks in General Santos City are asking the government to extend a P5 per liter discount on petroleum products to keep the tuna industry from collapsing.
Jerry Damalerio of the Damalerio Fishing said this will enable fisher folks to cope with the rising costs of catching and landing big yellowfin tuna and other tuna specie that are vital to the production of canned and processed tuna products.
Damalerio said fuel cost alone is already eating up between 45 to 75 per cent of production overhead, "depending on the size and make of boat and ship engines."
"We are raising this alarm because the volume of landed catch has dramatically reduced over the first semester of this year," South Cotabato Boat Owner and Tuna Association president Domingo Teng said.
According to General Fish Port Authority Mike Lamberte, the total landed catch of tuna and other fish species from January to June this year has dropped 35 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Annual tuna catch landed in this city has been pegged at an average of 400,000 metric tons.
Teng said many small tuna handline fishing boats have stopped voyaging because of the fuel cost crunch.
"Only those with enough capital are keeping the tuna catch production afloat," Teng said.
Both he and Damalerio said they will pass a resolution asking the Arroyo government to extend fuel discounts to tuna fisher folk, majority of them based in General Santos and the coastal towns of Sarangani.
The resolution will be passed during the 10th Annual Tuna Congress slated for September 3 and 4, which General Santos City will again host.
Richie Rich Tan, vice president for operations of San Andres Fishing Industries (SAFI Inc.), said their company alone consumed about 600,000 liters of diesel and gasoline products a month before the fuel crisis.
