Agriculture pursues fish pact with Indonesia
Othel V. Campos
Manila Standard
The philippines plans to renew its bilateral fishing agreement with Indonesia to boost the fisheries sector, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said yesterday.
Bureau director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. said a Philippine delegation would meet with Indonesian officials in Jakarta on Nov. 22 to discuss the fishing pact.
Sarmiento said the new agreement would result in additional tuna production of between 80,000 metric tons and 100,000 MT a year.
The Philippines’ fishing pact with Indonesia was extended for one year after expiring in December 2005. The two countries scheduled a meeting in Manila in September but both sides called it off.
Sarmiento earlier said the bureau was also interested in getting fishing access to Papua New Guinea and Palau to increase Philippine tuna production.
“We’ve sent already our proposal to PNG [Papua New Guinea] and Palau last week, actually this is just a follow-up. However, we have yet to receive their response,” Sarmiento said.
The Philippines is also seeking for joint research on marine, aquaculture operations, exchange of experts and environmental protection with other countries.
Fisheries production in the Philippines rose to about 956,500 MT in the third quarter, up by about 10.10 percent from 947,185 MT a year ago.
Tuna production, meanwhile, is expected to hit 300,000 to 400,000 tons this year.
The industry is projected to produce 5.34 million MT next year from a goal of 4.9 million MT this year.
The sector accounted for 23.68 percent of total agricultural output in the third quarter of the year.
Data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed the fisheries sector generated P163.4 billion in revenues in 2006.
The Philippines ranks eighth among the top 10 fish-producing countries in the world with current production this year at 4.16 million MT.
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