Sardine masterplan ready for rollout

CEBU , Philippines  – The country’s masterplan for the development of the sardine industry is on track to be implemented in late 2018 as the government aims for the sustainable growth of one of the major fishery products.

Marine conservation group Oceana Philippines said the implementation of the plan is up and ready by the last quarter of 2018.

In an interview with The STAR, Oceana Philippines senior marine scientist Jimely Flores said the rest of 2017 will be focused on writing the management plan itself.

“BFAR already came up with a technical working group composed of several divisions of BFAR and Oceana as the Secretariat. Scientists have also come together and made some recommendations on reference points, what is needed and other special management areas,” Flores said.

Starting next year, consultation process with stakeholders will begin.

“Oceana complemented the research made by BFAR and other educational institutions. We hope to have the management plan this year because we need the implementing rules and regulations which will be the nitty gritty part of the plan,” she said.

The plan would also mostly cover the status of the resources and the gaps to be addressed to set-up the management scheme.

“The plan is really enhancement of the closed fishing season. Our possible options would include regulation of quotas, sizes and fishing areas, and the ban of certain gears,” she said.

Sardines should mature from 10 to 14 centimeters in length but scientists observed that they are beginning to be much smaller than the normal size, which is a sign of overfishing.

“We also need research to augment the need of the industry. Because they are doing right now is not enough. We need to come up with more probable type of research,” she added.

Last year, sardine output diminished by 3.4 percent with a volume of 280,790 metric tons (MT) from 290,790 MT in 2015 due to less fishing operations.

The main market of the sardine industry is processing. Local demand for the fish species continues to be high as majority of Filipinos, regardless of class, are consumers.

Sardine production in the Philippines is largely situated in the Zamboanga Peninsula with up to 80 percent of total production. Other sardine-producing areas are in Palawan, Bicol, Visayan Sea, and Samar.