January 18, 2008

Philippines to implement fish coding programme for sustainability

Around 2,400 pieces of small pelagic fish in the Philippines are to be placed under a coding or tagging programme in efforts to sustain the country's aqua resources.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) said that the project will be carried out in Palawan and Manila Bay for the formulation of a sustainable management plan to conserve 50 percent of the Philippines' total marine catch.

Director Malcolm Sarmiento of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) explained that tagging involves the insertion of special number-coded yellow tags at the base of the dorsal fins of a fish.

The fish will then be released back into the sea and their tags will hopefully be returned to the nearest fishery agency by the fishermen who catch them.

The tagging scheme will enable marine researchers to determine the migratory path of the species of small pelagic fishes and develop a regional management plan to ensure the sustainability of resources.

Small pelagic fishery in the Philippines represents about 50 percent of the total marine fish catch.

Sarmiento added that small pelagic fishery in Southeast Asian countries bordering the South China Sea, including the Philippines, have been subjected to high levels of exploitation. Hence, there is a need to come up with a management plan for small pelagics, he explained.

He said a total of 2,400 pieces of fish belonging to two species of round scads and one species of mackerel will be tagged in the waters of Manila Bay and Palawan.