FISHERFOLK leaders and sardine cannery owners are asking the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to convene a meeting with them and include coastal local government units (LGUs) to discuss the looming shortage of sardines for canning.

In a media briefing on Monday by food security advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan, Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Sardines Canners Association of the Philippines, clarified that there is no shortage of canned sardines yet.

He said his earlier warning of a looming shortage is due to the low fish catch of commercial fishers from whom canners source their sardines, as well the scheduled ban on commercial fishing from Dec. 1, 2022 to Feb. 28, 2023.

"My statement was anticipatory of the supply situation. Commercial fishing is subject to the closed fishing season. We have only nine months in a year to allow us to build up the needed demand of about 200,000 to 250,000 metric tons of sardines needed for our operations... Also, the spawning season during the closed fishing season does not reconcile with the high market demand during Christmas, New Year's and January," Buencamino said.

"The alert is about our need to stock up on all the sardines we need for our operations. According to the commercial fishers, catch at the moment is only about 20 to 40 percent of last year's catch," he added.

Ramon Magsaysay awardee Roberto Ballon, of Gamay'ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion in Zamboanga, said he and fellow municipal fisherfolk can supply the needed sardines of canneries. But he stressed they would need bigger and better boats, as well as postharvest facilities that would make their catch competitive to those of commercial fishers.

"We would need logistics support and facilities both in the production and harvest stages... We have what we call 'pangulong' (to cage) with small lights. We may use those instead of fishing nets that may damage the sardines' fins," said Ballon, who is also concerned about the low pricing that their catch may get from the canneries.

Canneries usually rely on commercial fishers with bigger and better equipped boats and postharvest facilities that keep the fish fresh.

Additionally, the suggested multiparty meeting should also discuss the possibility of having commercial fishers catching from 10.1 kilometers outward from the shore still covered by municipal waters, Buencamino said. "LGUs should allow us to fish near the shore where there is more fish. We will make sure that it will not affect the municipal fishermen. We just need to get closer so we could build up our inventories before December 1. There will be a shortage if the issue is not addressed," he added.

Commercial fishing boats are confined to fishing outside the 15-kilometer mark from the shore.

For his part, Tugon Kabuhayan convenor Asis Perez noted that the Philippines is one of the biggest producers of canned sardines. He stressed that the retail price of canned sardines in the country is among the cheapest at P20 to P21 per 155-gram can.

"For the same size, Indonesia's canned sardines [are] retailed at P41, [the] US (United States) at P56 and the United Kingdom at P163," said the former BFAR national director.