DAVAO CITY—Government and private fisheries stakeholders in the Zamboanga Peninsula were asked to ensure the continuous supply of sardines for canning companies and local markets as government also assured undertaking logistics and post-maritime harvest interventions to municipal fisheries groups.
This came out in a Fisheries Management Area 4 Management Board (FMA4MB) meeting last Friday in Zamboanga City wherein the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) gathered key stakeholders and players in the sardine industry. The BFAR also held a consultation with similar groups on Wednesday also in the city.
In the two meetings, the FMA4MB “strongly supports the initiatives to provide an avenue in addressing issues and concerns surrounding the sardine industry, including the issue on the alleged looming shortage of sardine supply for canning.”
“After a thorough consideration of the recommendations that emanated from the said consultation dialogue, the board has resolved to adopt the recommendations and pursue the necessary measures to ensure its implementation within a short-term and long-term period,” the FMA4MB’s statement read.
The statement said the board’s major recommendations include ensuring the continuous supply of sardines without compromising sustainability and provide municipal fishermen with necessary government interventions including, but not limited to post-harvest and logistics support.
Other recommendations were: pilot testing of the “Big Brother-Small Brother” partnership in the municipality of Sibuco in Zamboanga Del Norte and possibly, include the neighboring municipalities; investing in value-adding (canning/processing) to generate jobs, reduce cost and increase global competitiveness; and, revisiting the provisions of the Fisheries Code, particularly the 15-kilometer delineation of municipal waters.
‘Big Brother-Small Brother’
ON the issue of necessary government logistics intervention, the management board said that this would give fishermen the opportunity “to be part of the value chain and have the capacity to supply the needs of the canning industry based on the required volume and quality supply agreement with the necessary consolidations scheme/strategies.”
Also, the “Big Brother-Small Brother” scheme would be applied in the municipal fishing industry in the peninsula “in an effort to promote resource sharing by allowing small to medium commercial fishing vessels within the 10.1 kilometers to 15 kilometers of the municipal waters following the legal framework of the amended Fisheries Code.”
“The FMA 4 Management Board, being at the forefront of fisheries governance in the FMA 4 is committed to ensuring sustainability of the sardine fishery within its management area while giving importance to wide stakeholders participation and promoting inclusive and equitable progress of the country’s sardine industry,” it said.