Tuna catch falling in the Philippines
Tuna canneries in Mindanao, the Philippines, have cut production by two-thirds due to a global drop in tuna catch. Local fisherfolk say that the yield in July and August was the lowest in the past 20 years.
Tuna landings in the Philippines have reduced drastically since 2005. In 2004, Food and Agriculture Organization (fao) data shows, tuna landings in the archipelago were at 241,915 tonnes, which dropped to 4,524 tonnes within a year. Global data also shows a sharp fall in tuna landing between 2004 and 2005.
Various explanations have been put forth for the decline, from overfishing to changes in the tuna's migration pattern due to the 2004 tsunami. Environmentalists warn that the tuna could face extinction if fishing continues at the current rate.
The consensus among organizations involved in monitoring the fisheries industry, such as fao and the International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna, is that the tuna has been overfished for a while now and the stocks may collapse anytime. It is difficult to get accurate data on fish landings because of under-reported and unreported catches.
Low tuna stocks have also prompted the European Commission to ban the fishing of endangered bluefin tuna for this year in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. The commission said seven European Union (eu) countries