General Santos

In the Land of Tuna

Tuna Festival

Long before this progressive city in the South propelled to fame as our world boxing champ’s hometown, General Santos City (“GenSan” to locals) had already established itself in the global map as a major player in the Philippine tuna industry.

Because of its strategic location and proximity to the Mindanao Sea, Southern Sulu Sea, Moro Gulf and Celebes Sea, which are major fishing grounds rich with tuna, General Santos City accounts for the second largest total daily fish landings in the country, an estimate of about 300 metric tons of fish daily (second only to Navotas in terms of total  fish volume, 500 m. t.) .But GenSan leads the production of sashimi-grade tuna, landing 8,548 metric tons of this high-grade fish. It exports a large volume of chilled and frozen sashimi tuna to Japan and other countries.

In 2003, the Philippines ranked fourth in the world, after China, Japan, and Indonesia, in the production of tuna and tuna-like species. Class A tuna for export is caught by small-scale fishermen in coastal areas, humble hand liners (using hook and line gear and milkfish fingerlings for tuna bait) with their small pump boats fitted with wooden hulls and outriggers.  They are known to fish outside the Philippine fishing grounds as far as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. An estimated 4,000 small boats engage in tuna fishing, but because ordinary fisher folks cannot afford registration fees, most boats are not registered.

Photo and Article Source : Mabuhay Magazine (PAL)