‘Fish importation, fish ban to kill livelihood of small fishermen’
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Rosanna Moranto, 28, has been fishing in the freshwaters of Binangonan, Rizal since she was ten. Over the last few years, Moranto complained of a decline in their catch, at an average of one kilo per day. There are times when she could not catch any tilapia, bangus, dulong or kanduli.
Carrying some local galunggong (round scad fish), Moranto joined the picket led by Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to protest the plan of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to import fish from neighboring countries and impose a ban in ten major fishing areas of the country.
“What would happen to us? We could no longer sell our fish if imported fish will flood the market. What about our families? This [fishing] is our only source of livelihood,” Moranto said in Filipino in an interview with Bulatlat.com.
Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairman, branded the BFAR’s proposals as insane as it would kill the livelihood of small fishermen and other local fish producers.
According to BFAR, about 900,000 metric tons (MT) of imported fish enter the country annually. Last year, marine product imports reached 800,000 MT, of which 60 percent is galunggong (round scad fish).
Hicap said the landing cost of the locally produced fish is P40 ($0.93) per kilo but those from China, Taiwan or Japan is only P20 ($0.465) per kilo. Hicap said institutional buyers and local fish traders will buy heavily subsidized foreign fish products because these are 50 percent cheaper than the locally produced ones which are battered by the high cost of production.
In a report by Manila Times, BFAR director Asis Perez justified the importation, citing the dwindling domestic fish catch..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/04/%E2%80%98fish-importation-fish-ban-to-kill-small-fishermen%E2%80%99/
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