Commercial fishing of tuna and processing is one of the
potential investment opportunities in Caraga Region.
Visa Tan-Dimerin, the new regional director of Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Caraga said that the region is rich
in high-value fish such as tuna.
“We have abundance of tuna in Caraga Region but bulk of
our catch goes to other places in Mindanao where post-harvest and processing
centers are located such as in General Santos City,” the director said.
Director Dimerin said that Surigao del Sur is one of
the sources of fresh catch of tuna for the tuna processing industry in General
Santos.
“Caraga is blessed of various tuna species such as
skipjack or commonly called tulingan, yellowfin, bluefin, albacore and other,” Dimerin
narrated.
She said that currently there are small-scale processors
of tuna in the region for bottled tuna products and semi-processed.
“We are promoting our region to investors to consider
Caraga Region particularly in fish processing industry so our local catch would
be processed here, since we have abundance of fish,” she said.
The director revealed that Caraga Region posted an 88%
sufficiency level of fish, however she said that part of Caraga’s catch has
been accounted in another region.
“Based on statistics parameters, accounting for fish is
based on landing or where it is being unloaded. So in the case of fresh catch
from Caraga Region being unloaded outside the region, the data will be credited
to the said area,” Dimerin explained.
Dimerin disclosed that 90% of tuna catch in Surigao del
Sur particularly from Bislig area are bound for General Santos tuna processing.
Yellow fin in particular, has been exported to other
countries such as in Japan and China, hence cold storage facility is neccessary
to maintain its quality and such big facility are located in other region.
To boost the fishing industry in the region, BFAR has
been conducting training for the fisher folks, provision of fishing
paraphernalia and facility for fish processing, and stringent implementation of
fishery laws.
BFAR is an attached agency of the Department of
Agriculture. (Aurelius P. Arais/DA Caraga)
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