Sustainability matters in Gensan

By Steven Adolf

General  Santos, better known as Gensan,  is all about tuna. One of the mere reasons that this southern harbor city in the Philippines exists anyway is its tuna fisheries, one of the biggest in the global tuna arena. Seven tuna processing plants with a joint daily capacity of 750 tons of fish producing the cans and loins and fresh Sashimi grade tuna that gave the town the name of ‘Tuna Capital of the Philippines’ . It certainly is tuna everywhere: on the buildings and the restaurants, in the fountains and on the colorful tuk tuk motor cabs. During the Tuna festival, in the first week of September the town honors the fish that gave so much jobs and wealth in this local migrant economy. A giant tuna is carried around the streets and exhibited at the central festival park where the people listen to concerts and have fun at the fair.

Problem is: there is less and less giant tuna’s to be found in the waters where the Gensan fleet is fishing. Sustainability has become an issue. These were the central themes lingering around during the two day National Tuna Congress (September 6-7) that was visited by part of the BESTTuna team. Organized by the Soccsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries (SFFAII), the congress is an annual platform for the local tuna industry, which is owned and managed by well-known families in the region. They are worried about the drop in catch volumes, but also by the sustainability issues expressed by the foreign buyers of tuna, explained Francisco ‘Bombit’ Buencamino, director of the Tuna canning association of the Philippines in his presentation during the congress. Catch rates for both skipjack and yellowfin are on a decreasing trend since 2009, Jake Lu, chairman of the congress, told the audience. Total tuna production shrank a staggering 21 per cent from its 2008 637.000 ton peak to only 504.000 ton in 2011. The reason that the 2013 catch showed again an important upbeat was the lifting of the ban to fish in the High Seapocket 1 of the Western Pacific. It boosted production 25 per cent in the first quarter of this year.  Especially yellowfin production went up.

With the pending approval of the zero export tariff to the EU under the GSP+ (‘a game changer’ according to Buencamino) reason enough for the industry to look with certain optimism to the future. But just around the corner the sustainability monster is alive and kicking, also on the Gensan congress. A strong delegation of Greenpeace warned the Philippine industry that there multi billion (pesos)  business was on the border of collapse unless dramatic steps would be taken to prevent the decline of the stocks. Overfishing and overcapacity are recognizable features in the Philippines tuna fleet, according to campaigners Mark Dia and Sari Tolvanen. Not much precautionary action is taken. The problem of declining yellowfin and bigeye seems to divide the industry itself, with the association of Philippine handliners protesting that the purse seiners working for the canning industry are hurting their catch, through the controversial juvenile bycatch with FAD’s.

Interesting and useful to watch the latest movements on the sustainability front. In Gensan ‘the usual suspects’ gave their presentations: Mark Berman of the Earth Island Instute, Bill Holden of MSC and Paolo Bray of Friends of the Sea took the opportunity to convince the audience on the usefulness of their certification schemes. Mark Berman, present with a strong EII delegation, had titled his presentation ‘Updates on the Dolphin Safe Label and its Continued Importance in the Tuna Industry’. While nobody doubts the important influence of EII, the title itself suggests that Dolphin Safe label is another matter. Especially in the WCPO, where it is an indisputable fact that no dolphin is associated with tuna at all, and therefore not killed on a regular basis during tuna fishing. Which raises the logical question:  why a Dolphin Safe Label at all in the region? Mark Berman’s main argument during his presentation: the label is justified because the American consumer just wants it on its cans. Just to be sure that no Flipper is harmed.

This argument is not new, but increasingly raises uncomfortable questions about the credibility of ecolabelling. Why not quiet the label and explain to the US-consumers that there are no Flippers in the WCPO tuna fisheries anyway? Dr. José Ingles, (better known as Jingles, the leader of the WWF tuna program) asked if it wasn’t about time that EII and its logo cleared the stage after having fulfilled their admirable mission of eradicating up to 95 per cent of the Dolphin killing This remark seemed to touch an open nerve. Visibly trembling and in unsteady voice, Mr. Berman replied that this was absolutely out of the question. As soon as EII would do that, the Dolphin killing would immediately re-start according to Berman.  To make things even worse, one of the female collaborators of EII Philippines commented on the lightly critical remarks of Bill Holden, that EII had independent observers on board of all the vessels of the tuna purse seiner fleet.  Quiet a statement to make, in front of an audience of the industry and well-informed observers. Jingles commented that had been on a lot of purse seiners and never had met an EII observer. Indeed, who has?

That EII still is something to take serious though was revealed in the corridors of the Congress where as usual the real wheeling and dealing took place. The question is why the market is still waiting on MSC certified skipjack from the PNA waters, a case that involves the PNA sustainable brand Pacifical, the Philippine fleet of Frabelle and its canning plant on PNG. One of the reasons for the delay can be found in the fact that EII has warned the Philippine industry not to do business with Pacifical to avoid the loss of its Dolphin Safe label in the US market. The reason is not killing dolphins, but the involvement of Mr. Henk Brus, managing director of Pacifical, who already for years refuses to cooperate with EII and is therefore attacked by EII as ‘dolphinkiller’ . The Philippine industry knows well that there is not a dolphin issue at stake at all in the WCPO, but does not like to have problems with their customers on the US markets.

Therefore the waiting continues  for the first shipment of MSC certified skipjack shipment. One small step for the MSC skipjack, but a leap for tuna sustainability and human mankind? The coming weeks will learn.