General Santos City (GenSan) is located in South Cotabato, in southwest Mindanao, and is a modern fish port. Its original name was Dadiangas, but was later renamed General Santos after the city’s founder, General Paulino Santos, who was a former commanding general of the Philippine Army.
As the Tuna capital of the Philippines, GenSan carries the flag for South Cotabato and aids the national economy in a significant way. GenSan is well known for high quality ‘Sashimi-grade’ Yellowfin Tuna, which is mostly exported, while the rest are processed into canned goods, or sold locally.
There are more than 15 frozen Tuna processors in the Philippines, and 80% are located in GenSan, providing around 3,000 jobs. There are also 6 Tuna canneries with a combined daily production capacity of about 700 Metric Tons (MT), and about 7,500 jobs made available to plant workers. The 6 canneries in GenSan are export facilities, such as: Alliance Select Food International, Celebes Canning, General Tuna, Ocean Canning, Philbest Canning, and Seatrade Development Canning.
Thailand is the leading Tuna producing country, According to Commodore Marfenio Tan, a commercial fishing ship-owner and Force Commander, Naval Affiliated Reserve Force, Eastern Mindanao, “Thailand does not catch Tuna – it buys from the fishermen. Thailand’s fishing industry is heavily subsidized by government in the form of good landing ports, lower shipping costs, lower taxes, lower export duties, large cold storage facilities, and lots of canneries.” Yet the Philippines remains a major Tuna producer despite all the hurdles faced by its fishing industry. Tuna also remains the largest seafood export commodity of the Philippines. Currently, the Philippines is the leading Yellowfin Tuna exporter to the European Union, mainly Germany and UK. The annual average national Marine Tuna produced in the Philippines over the period 2004-2016 is 506.6K MT, worth P13.2M. About 38% of total national Marine Tuna (Bigeye, Frigate, Skipjack, and Yellowfin) lands in South Cotabato. In 2016, Tuna ranked 5th among the country’s top agricultural exports, worth $277.5M, declining 5.4% from its export value of $293.3M in 2015. Japan was the largest buyer of tuna, with 16.8% of total tuna export.
National Commercial Tuna. Over the same period, national Commercial Tuna produced an annual average of 349.75K MT, or 31% of national Commercial Fishery, worth P23.1M. The average annual share of major Tuna species (in MT) as a % of national Commercial Tuna is: 3% Bigeye (Thunnus Obesus), 26% Frigate (Auxis Thazard), 48% Skipjack (Katsuwonus Pelamis), and 24% Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus Albacares).
National Municipal Marine Tuna. National Municipal Marine Tuna produced an annual average of 199.7K MT, or 18.6% of national municipal marine fishery, worth P10.8M. Clearly, Municipal Marine Tuna is much less than Commercial Tuna landings. The average annual share of major Tuna species (in MT) as a % of national Municipal Marine Tuna is: 4% Bigeye, 49% Frigate, 19% Skipjack, and 23% Yellowfin.
National Tuna Trade. The major markets of the country’s Tuna exports are to the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Thailand, Netherlands, and Vietnam. Philippine Tuna exports maintained a steady average of 40% of total fishery exports over 2004-2016.
The major markets of the country’s Tuna imports were initially from Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Japan, Marshall Islands, and Singapore. During 2014-2016, Tuna imports shifted to Thailand, Peru, Denmark, Korea, and Argentina. Although Tuna imports comprised an average of only 26% of total fishery imports, the trend of imports has sharply been increasing amidst the increasing price of Tuna. The wholesale price of Yellowfin Tuna is P153.3/kg in 2018, compared to P119.8/kg in 2016.
The national major Marine Tuna landings as a % of total national fishery is: 8% Frigate, 9% Skipjack, and 10% Yellowfin.
Total Fishery Production in South Cotabato produced an annual average of 219.5K MT, or 4.7% of the annual average national fisheries, worth P14.7M over the period 2004-2016. But in the 1980s, VAdm Emilio C Marayag Jr AFP(Ret), former Coast Guard Station Commander in GenSan during 1980-84 said, “There used to be more fish then but not enough processing plants and cold storage facilities on land and at sea.”
Commercial fishery in South Cotabato produced an annual average of 221K MT, or 20.2% of annual average national commercial fishery, worth P14.3M. This makes South Cotabato the largest commercial fishery in the country. The second largest is Zamboanga City with 190.6K MT. Of the 8 tuna canneries in the Philippines, 2 are in Zamboanga.
Municipal fishery in South Cotabato produced an annual average of 2,360 MT, or 0.2% of annual average national municipal fishery, worth P120K. Municipal Marine fishery in South Cotabato produced an annual average of 2.8K MT, worth P1.1M. Municipal Inland fishery in South Cotabato produced an annual average of 273 MT, or 0.15% of national Municipal Inland fishery, worth P13.2K.
Marine Tuna Landings in South Cotabato produced an annual average of 200K MT or 39% of annual average national marine fishery, worth P13.1M. Marine Tuna is therefore 96% of fishery production in South Cotabato. The major Marine Tuna species are: 6% Bigeye; 11% Frigate, 61% Skipjack, and 38% Yellowfin.
National Trend Update. Of the total major Tuna species caught, an average of 64% (349.75 MT) is Commercial Tuna, and 36% (199.65 MT) Is Municipal Marine Tuna. While both are separate and distinct sectors, they are actually competitors.
Average Marine Tuna landings from 2004-2016 have a slightly increasing trend, which can mainly be attributed to the increase in Skipjack and Yellowfin Tuna catch. Since then, during 2017-2018, Yellowfin landings have been decreasing by 2.86%, while Skipjack Tuna landings have been increasing by 9.08%.
Although fishing effort is likely to further increase in the coming years as a result of rising costs of basic necessities and inflation, it is possible that Marine Tuna landing figures shall remain stable or decrease further until the Tuna stocks are sufficient, sustainable, and compliance issues are efficiently managed (i.e., over-fishing; and Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing [IUUF]). But part of the problem can also be attributed to poaching in our local waters by foreign fishing vessels, mostly from China, Thailand and Taiwan. Philippine commercial fishing vessels and poor fishermen in smaller crafts are likewise being restricted from fishing in Indonesian waters. Our fishermen worry about the non-renewal of the Philippine-Indonesia fishing accord.
In GenSan, there are two types of handline fishers, the ‘palaran’ and the ‘pamariles.’ The main difference between the two fishers is their fishing ground. The ‘palaran’ handliner is confined to municipal waters, while the ‘pamariles’ fisher can venture to distant waters, even beyond Philippine EEZ. Yet it is the ‘palaran’ who is the primary producer of “Sashimi-grade” Tuna.
Commodore Marfenio Tan stated, “We provide a medical mission every year as well as Brigada Eskwela to repaint and upkeep school surroundings as our way of giving back to the fisherfolk of GenSan. As naval reservists, our main duty is to undertake search and rescue missions, intelligent gathering in the high seas, environment protection, fight against illegal fishing activities, and assist the Philippine Navy maintain peace and order in our AOR.”
Under the direction of national BFAR Director Commodore Eduardo B Gongona, the DA-BFAR will be setting up 12 additional Tuna Conservation Management Zones (TCMZ), which is a national priority. Hopefully, the Tuna that abounds in the Philippine Rise and the high seas (e.g., Celebes Sea, Moro Gulf, Sulu Sea, Mindanao Sea) would also increase national Commercial Tuna landing figures. On the other hand, our small-scale ‘palaran’ fishermen could be more successful when using handline fishing in BFAR fiberglass payao boats installed with vessel monitoring system to curb IUUF in municipal waters, and in so doing, alleviate them from poverty.
Handline fishing is the TCMZ’s fishing method of choice to catch only adult Tuna, thereby, protecting the juveniles, which become by-catch in Tuna ringnets, shallow hooks, or via purse seine fishing method.
Sources of data:
- (2004-2016) 3-Year Statistical Tables from the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS),
- Fisheries Statistics Division.
- Fisheries Situation Report April-June 2018, Philippine Statistics Authority.
- Wholesale prices, June 2018, Philippine Statistics Authority.
- Agricultural Marketing Statistics Analysis Division (AMSAD), BAS.
