Caraga Region Is Rich in Tuna

Commercial fishing of tuna and processing is one of the potential investment opportunities in Caraga Region.

Visa Tan-Dimerin, the new Regional Director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Caraga, said that the region is rich in high-value fish such as tuna.

“We have an abundance of tuna in Caraga Region but the 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.

Dimerin said that Surigao del Sur is one of the sources of fresh tuna for the tuna processing industry in General Santos.

“Caraga is blessed with various tuna species such as skipjack or commonly called Tulingan, Yellowfin, Bluefin, Albacore and other,” Dimerin said.

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 the fish processing industry so our local catch would be processed here since we have an abundance of fish,” she said.

The director revealed that Caraga Region posted an 88 percent sufficiency level of fish, however, 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 percent of tuna catch in Surigao del Sur particularly from Bislig area are bound for General Santos tuna processing.

Yellowfin, in particular, has been exported to other countries such as Japan and China, hence, the cold storage facility is necessary to maintain its quality and such big facility are located in other regions.

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/PIA-Caraga)