Fisheries sector incurs P20B in postharvest losses yearly

By Riza Lozada

Postharvest losses of the fishery sector is estimated at P20 billion a year, but this can be mitigated through the strict implementation of the Republic Act 10654 that limits commercial fishing, Dennis Calvan, executive director of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) for Fisheries Reform Inc., said. 

Calvan told a recent forum that bright export prospects in the European Union (EU) would materialize with the stricter implementation of R.A. 10654 prohibiting the operation of commercial fishers within the 15 kilometers of municipal waters.

He said exports of fishery products to the EU reached P9.4 billion in 2013 which could possibly be hampered with non-compliance to the EU regulation on the use of illegal fishing methods.

In April this year, the Philippines’ “yellow card” rating for inadequately addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing or (IUUF) was lifted upon by the EU.

The EU cited the efforts of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in creating the momentum to sustainably transform the country’s fisheries sector.

Calvan said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) and BFAR put an estimated post harvest losses of 25 percent on the country’s fishery output.

Without these losses, these could translate to monthly income of P10,000 for the poorest of the poor fishermen which the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) counted at 165,000 fisherfolks.

He added that NAPC record showed that fishermen ranked first in the poverty incidence.

The BFAR said that the total registered fisherfolks as of January 2013 totaled 1.4 million.The average fishing and aquaculture income is P195 a day.

Calvan said that, based on the study, the actual catch is only P3.86 kilos, which is below the 5-kilo harvest for a family of five to meet daily needs.

In a related development, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) senior ministers will focus on blue economy or the fishery sec-tor targeting agricultural biotechnology, regulatory is-sues and harmonization in its meetings set in the country, according to Agriculture Un-dersecretary Segredo Serrano, who is also the Apec Agricul-ture Technical Cooperation Working Group (ATCWG) Deputy Lead Shepherd.

The Asia-Pacific region experiences cyclical bouts of El Niño and La Niña, Serra-no said.

The Apec High-Level Pol-icy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology was held in Il-oilo City from September 30 to October 1.