Preliminary Assessment of the Handline Fisheries in the Philippines

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Preliminary Assessment of the Handline Fisheries
in the Philippines
14th NATIONAL TUNA CONGRESS September 7, 2012
Funded by the Australian Centre for International
Agricultural Research
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Region V - Bicol
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Gear Classification
Lines A. Handlines (kawil) 1. Simple
handlines or drop lines (kawil) 2. Multiple
handlines (kawil-moderno) 3. Jiggers
(hila-hila) 4. Pole and lines (binwit o
biwas) 5. Troll lines (sibid-sibid o
pahila) B. Longlines (kitang) 1. Set
longlines (palagiang-kitang) 2. Drift
longlines (kitang-paanod) Umali, 1952
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Gear Classification
Lines device consisting of baited hooks
attched to a line or lines which fish on the
principle that fish fall victims to baits. A.
Handlines (kawil) - long simple lines with
only a small series of baited hooks requiring
constant attention. 1. Simple handlines or drop
lines (kawil) - a single vertical line
carrying 1 or 2 barbed hooks and worked by
simply dropping it into the water and waiting
for a fish to bite.
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Gear Classification
2. Multiple handlines (kawil-moderno) - a
single vertical line with a series of barbed
hooks attached to it by spreaders at regular
intervals.
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Gear Classification

• 3. Jiggers
• - lines, each bearing a multiple-hooked device,
  which are worked by jerking up and down under
  bright light, amking hooked lures attractive to
  squids
• 4. Pole and lines
• - handlines attached to a pole

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Gear Classification

• 5. Troll lines
• - long handlines, fished horizontally with a
  hook or hooks at the free end, baited with either
  a natural or artificial lure, and the whole
  arrangement towed behind a boat underway.

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Gear Classification
Hook and Lines A. Handlines (kawil) - is
used to capture deep swimming tunas, principally
yellowfin but also bigeye. Handlining is usually
practiced while the banca is tied on a payao set
in deep water. There is only one (1) hook used
per line but up to six (6) lines maybe operated
from the same vessel at one time. De Jesus,
1982
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Gear Classification
B. Longlines (kitang) - used to catch
deep-swimming tunas - mainlines, bouylines and
branchlines are tied together - originally of
Tawanese origin De Jesus, 1982
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Gear Classification
C. Troll lines - used for surface schools of
small tunas - two bancas move towards the
school and away from each other, paying out the
troll line within them De Jesus, 1982
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Port Sampling

• Port sampling data were gathered in the following
  sampling sites
• Tabaco City, Albay
• Sugod, Tiwi, Albay
• Nato, Sagñay, Camarines Sur
• Sabang, San Jose, Camarines Sur
• Period Covered September 2009 - August 2010

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Port Sampling
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Line Gears
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Catch Composition HL
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Catch Composition Jigger
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Catch Composition MHL
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Catch Composition TL
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Length Class HL
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Length Class HL
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Length Class MHL
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Length Class TL
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Monthly Effort HL
Monthly effort (hours) and hours/trip for Bicol
handliners, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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YFT CPUE HL
Monthly Yellowfin CPUE for handliners in Bicol,
Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Alb CPUE HL
Monthly Albacore CPUE for handliners in Bicol,
Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Effort and CPUE Jigger
Monthly effort (days) and days/trip for the
jiggers in Bicol, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
Monthly CPUE for jiggers in Bicol, Sep 2009 Aug
2010
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Effort and CPUE MHL
Monthly effort (days) and days/trip for multiple
hook line in Bicol, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
Monthly CPUE for multiple hook line in Bicol,
Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Effort and CPUE TL
Monthly effort (days) and days/trip for troll
line, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
Monthly Skipjack CPUE for Bicol troll liners, Sep
2009 Aug 2010
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Region V111 - Samar
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Port Sampling

• Port sampling data were gathered in the following
  sampling sites
• Brgy. Rodsan, Ngolos, Guiuan, Eastern Samar
• Sapao Beach, Guiuan, Eastern Samar
• Brgy. Sabang 1 2, Borongan, Eastern Samar
• Period Covered September 2009 August 2010

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Port Sampling
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Line Gears
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Catch Composition HL
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Catch Composition TL
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Length Class HL
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Length Class TL
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Monthly Effort HL
Monthly effort (hours) and hours/trip for Hook
Line in Eastern Samar, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Effort and CPUE HL
Monthly Yellowfin CPUE for hook and line in
Eastern Samar, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
Monthly Skipjack CPUE for the Eastern Samar Hook
Line fleet, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Effort and CPUE TL
Monthly effort (days) and days/trip for troll
line, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Effort and CPUE TL
Monthly Skipjack CPUE for Eastern Samar troll
liners, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
Monthly Yellowfin CPUE for Eastern Samar troll
liners, Sep 2009 Aug 2010
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Region X11 Gen. Santos City
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Background

• General Santos is also known as the Tuna
  Capital of the Philippines due to its high
  volume of fish unloaded everyday that can surpass
  that of any other fish port or even the entire
  unloading of all other fish ports in the country
  combined (Aprieto, 1995).
• tuna handline fishing started in the year 1970
  along the territory of Sarangani Province and
  General Santos City
• From 1970 to 1980s, there were only around 500
  handline boats operating.
• The number of handline boats continued to
  increase until it reached its peak in the
  mid-1990s with around 2,500 handline vessels.
• In the late 1990s, the number of handline
  vessels started to decrease.
• Today, it is believed that there are only 1, 100
  handline vessels operating

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Background
Year / No. of Vessels BB Seiner Super Seiner Handline
1991-1995 105 6 2500
1996-2000 101 16 2000
2001-2005 115 22 1500
2006-present 117 23 1100
Source SFFAII, 2007
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Port Sampling
Port sampling data was gathered in General Santos
City Fishport Complex (GSCFPC) Period Covered
July 2009 June 2010
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Contribution of Different Gears
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Catch Composition HL
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Length Class HL
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Monthly Effort HL
Monthly effort (days) and days/trip for the
General Santos City Handline fleet, 2006 2010
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Effort and CPUE HL
Monthly Yellowfin CPUE for the General Santos
City Handline fleet, 2006 - 2010
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Threats to the handline fishery in General Santos

• competition from other fisheries
• declining stocks
• ineffective management arrangements
• lack of accurate data and
• environmental degradation

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Key Challenges in the handline fishery in General
Santos

• Decreasing catch by handline vessel affecting the
  supply of fish to tuna canneries
• Ineffective fish handling techniques onboard
  vessels resulting in poor quality product
• Difficulty in competing in the international
  market of tuna
• Lack of effective registration and licensing
  system
• Lack of access to fishing grounds outside
  Philippine national waters.

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Opportunities in the handline fishing sector

• Increasing the capacity within tuna
  cooperatives in
• handling of fish onboard vessels
• Exploring options to promote certification and
• labeling of tuna products for international
  trade
• More active participation of the industry in
  domestic
• policy discussions and
• - Bilateral and regional fishing access
  negotiations.

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Research and training needs in General Santos

• A study on the efficiency of chilling systems
  for handline
• fishing vessels
• An investigation of carrying capacity of
  Sarangani Bay,
• including spawning grounds and season, stock
  assessment,
• habitat use, and use of fish aggregating
  devices. (FADs)
• - Policy implications of FADs in Sarangani Bay
• - Tuna marketing system or value chain study
• Workshop on best fishing practices and
  development of
• manuals in local dialects and
• Training on handling of tuna on board vessels,
  tuna quality
• classification, traceability of fish and food
  safety.

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Salamat