Tiwi eyes becoming Tuna Capital of Luzon

TIWI, Albay—The geothermal-rich Tiwi town in Albay might soon become the Tuna Capital of Luzon after the fish was found to be in abundance in the waters off this town located at the eastern seaboard of Bicol facing the Pacific Ocean.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate committees on food security and agriculture, said the town’s potential to supply tuna for both local and foreign markets could even rival that of tuna-supplying areas in the Visayas and Mindanao like General Santos City.

Pangilinan, who was here Friday, said the tuna found off the coastal water of Lagonoy Gulf in Tiwi belonged to a special species called “Albacore Thunnus.”

The albacore is a type of tuna that could be marketed as “white meat tuna.” It is found in open waters of all tropical and temperate oceans, with length of up to 140 centimeters (4.5 feet) and weight of up to

45 kilograms.

Albacore is a prized food because it is caught by pole and line, long-line fishing, trolling and some purse seining.

This is good news for local fishers because unlike in other tuna-fishing areas, Tiwi fishermen only use the handline fishing method, in compliance with the World Wide Fund (WWF) policy, according to municipal agriculturist Leonila Coralde.

She said the WWF policy was being carried out in Lagonoy Gulf and in Occidental Mindoro in order to safeguard the fisheries’ sustainability.

Furthermore, fishers in Tiwi could catch tuna just two kilometers from the town’s shoreline, she revealed.

With appropriate government and private sector intervention, the town’s vast mineral and aquatic resources could also be transformed into a tourist destination, said Pangilinan, who was here to speak during the Partners’ Forum on Sustainable Tuna Fisheries.

“Local and foreign tourists will find the place enjoyable, where they can dine and savor the delicious taste of tuna grilled, steamed or the famous Japanese delicacy sashimi,” he said.

Government support could come in by funding the setting up of a fish landing site that would also be used as a central trading post that would link the fishermen directly to buyers, eliminating the need to go through middlemen, he added.

Wilfredo Chavenia, chairman of the town’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council, said they would welcome a central trading post as middlemen engaged in the buy-and-sell of tuna products have been dictating and manipulating the prices of tuna.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources provincial officer Ariel Poquinto said tuna thrives in the so-called “tuna belt” in Lagonoy Gulf covering the coastal towns of Tiwi in Albay and Sangay town in Camarines Sur.

Tiwi, a first-class municipality in Albay (pop. 44,261 in 8,036 households), is the seat of the Tiwi Geothermal Plant operated by the Aboitiz Corp. generating 220 megawatts of electricity for the Luzon grid.

Tiwi’s coastline covers 17 kilometers. It has 1,440 accredited fishermen operating 720 registered fishing boats engaged in tuna fishing, said agriculturist Coralde in a briefing during the forum.

She said an average of 59.8 metric tons of tuna have been caught per year by Tiwi fishermen for the past three years, with market prices ranging from P90 to P170 per kilogram during the lean months and as low as P30 during the peak season.

Coralde said that to sustain the tuna fisheries in Tiwi and to address and thwart illegal fishing practices in the area, the local government has established a 4.4-square-km Corangon fish sanctuary and marine reserve.

She said they have required fishermen and their fishing boats to be accredited and registered to closely check that fishery regulations are being followed.