The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) called on fishers and consumers to see the fish they have caught or bought have tags in them. BFAR requests that those tags be saved and returned those markers to their respective local government units (LGUs), as these are parts of a scientific study to help develop a regional manage-ment plan for tuna and small pelagic fishes in the Southeast Asian region in order to ensure their sustainability.
Three multi-national fish tagging projects are currently underway, with the country as a member-participant.
BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. reported to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap that one of these projects is the Tuna Tagging in the Western and Central Pacific. The Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) under the Secretariat of the Pacific Community based in New Caledonia is spearheading. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission are funding the project.
This tagging project and two other similar activities are led in the country by the BFAR thru the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI).
"This tuna tagging project carries a $10 reward for yellow tag, $50 for green tag and $250 for orange tag, said Sarmiento. The latter two have accompanying devices inserted in the body cavity of the fish (near the abdomen). The tag on the former is attached on the back of the fish near the second dorsal fin."
"We are calling on our fishermen and the consuming public to surrender to BFAR or the LGUs, any tag found in fishes particularly big-eye, skipjack, or yellowfin tuna, and other marine fishes, as these are parts of scientific studies," Sarmiento said.
These tuna species are locally known as tangi or tambakul. According to the OFP, "the tuna tagging project will provide better information on fishery exploitation rates and population sizes in the Western and Central Pacific. Data gathered will allow the improvement of regional stock assessment for the three species."
The OFP calls on anyone who takes hold of a tuna with tag to record its fork length (upper jaw to the fork-end of the tail), date, and place of recapture. The OFP also advised that extra care must be observed in handling the inserted devices.
Apart from this tuna tagging project, a similar species tracking effort is also being undertaken by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) involving small pelagics particularly alumahan (Japanese mackerel), hasa-hasa (short-bodied mackerel, Indian mackerel), and galunggong (round scad).
Along with tunsoy, tawiles and matangbaka, these fishes constitute about 50 percent of the Philippines’ total marine catch.
Last year, the Philippines plus seven more Asian countries started tagging five commercially- important fish species like galunggong and hasa-hasa in the South China Sea and Andaman Seas as the focus of a three-year collaborative research on the migration patterns of small pelagic fishes in these waters.
The Philippines is doing this tagging project for mackerel and round scads species in partnership with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak), Vietnam and Myanmar .
"Fish tagging involves the insertion of special number-coded yellow tags at the base of the dorsal fins of individual fishes." "The fishes are released back into the sea and their tags will hopefully be returned to the nearest fishery agency by the fishermen who catch them," Sarmiento said.
This project is designed to determine the migratory path of these species, which, in turn, will eventually lead to the development of a regional management and conservation plan for the sustainability of small pelagic fisheries in the region.
"This 3-year research project is an offshoot of a regional study of the SEAFDEC-entitled ‘Information Collection for Sustainable Pelagic Fisheries in the South China Sea’-to determine the relationship of small pelagic stocks in Southeast Asian countries, including their biology and population."
SEAFDEC, based in Iloilo, headed by Dr. Joebert Toledo, together with 10 other SEAFDEC member-countries, the Philippines is promoting the adoption of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in Southeast Asia ."
SEAFDEC is an inter-governmental organization tasked to promote sustainable fisheries development in Southeast Asia composed of Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. (DA-PRESS OFFICE) /MP
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