Friday, November 14, 2008 Bad weather nags tuna catchers from enjoying fuel cut
THE major rollback in pump prices that took effect last week is still not being felt by producers of large tuna in General Santos City, with bad weather condition tagged as the culprit.
Rogelio R. Lim Sr., vice president of the Alliance of Tuna Handliners, said that unfavorable weather condition in the high seas have dimmed what could have been big relief on their fishing expeditions with the cut in fuel prices, as much as P6 per liter for diesel and P2.50 for gasoline.
"About 50 percent of handline tuna fishing boats are affected by the bad weather condition characterized by typhoons out in the sea. That big-time rollback was a big relief to us [but nature interfered]," he said in an interview.
Handline tuna fishing employs the traditional hook and line method to catch mature stocks. This sector, industry data showed, is composed of over 2,500 large pump boats that employ at least 40,000 fishermen, with an annual landing catch of over 30,000 metric tons of high value tuna worth P4.5 billion.
In August, price of diesel nearly breached the P60 per liter mark in General Santos City, prompting tuna industry players to ask the government for a subsidy of at least P5 per liter.
At the time, fishing operators in Zamboanga City, the country's center for sardine production, stopped their fishing expeditions to protest high fuel prices, with the government considering then giving them a P5 per liter subsidy.
Lim said it would be much better if oil companies could roll back diesel prices by another P5 per liter or bring its prices to P35 per liter.
"At this level [P35 per liter], this would really be a big help to catchers of large tuna," said Lim, citing that even with the fresh rollback, prices of boat engine parts, paints, rice and others used in fishing operations remain prohibitive.
With the fuel rate reduction, prices of diesel in General Santos City, dubbed the "Tuna Capital of the Philippines", are now at P41 level mark.
Fuel consumption eats up as much as 75 percent of a regular tuna fishing expedition cost, various tuna industry leaders said.
A source at the local Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, which manages the fish port complex in the city, noted that there have been no sudden increases in boat landings nowadays even with the fresh fuel rollback.
"The boats that are landing here these days consumed diesel at last month's prices. Probably, we can see the impact of the fresh fuel price roll back in next month's unloading at the fish port," said the source who declined to be named.
The source said that tuna unloading at the fish port complex in the last few months is reduced by 30 to 35 percent compared to the same period last year. (BSS)
