The recent MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) Tuna Sports Fishing Fest was highlighted by the “Third Philippine Biggest Tuna Challenge,” wherein a 67-kilogram tuna won from a haul of freshly caught tuna in Mindoro Strait.
The Mindoro Strait between the provinces of Palawan and Occidental Mindoro, is one of the narrow channels connecting the West Philippine Sea with Sulu Sea. The 420-meter deep (1,378 feet) waterway is part of an alternate route for cargo ships passing between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
For fishermen of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, the strait serves as an underwater freeway for Yellow Fin Tuna. The area is now considered as Western Philippines’ “tuna highway,” a migratory pelagic pathway of yellow fin tuna (Thunnus albacores). It is the top predator in the marine food chain, thus they contributed in maintaining a balance in the marine environment.
Tuna could grow up to more than 100 kilograms. Their food are galunggong (round scad) and squid, which abound in the Strait. Because of the increasing galunggong population, fishermen catch tuna easily.
Last November 2019 was the fifth year of implementation of the three-month closed fishing season for round scad (galunggong) protecting them during ther peak spawning season in the waters of northeastern Palawan.
Galunggong is an important fishery resource in Palawan that accounts for 92% of the landed catch at the Navotas port in Manila.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Assistant Regional Director Roberto Abrera said that after five years of imposing the closed fishing season, good-sized and mature round scads have been observed to have returned in the northeastern area of Palawan, spilling over to some areas as far as Mindoro strait.
He said that large pelagic fish like yellowfin tuna and blue marlin (malasugue) that feed on round scads have been observed in Mindoro Strait.
The BFAR is pushing for another 10-year implementation pg closed fishing season for galunggong to guarantee the repopulation of the round scads not only in the waters of northeastern Palawan but in other areas as well.
Catching Yellow Fin Tuna in Occidental Mindoro is done by hand line (kawil) using a single hook-and-line method and involves the use of drop-stone technique.
Starting in 2010, Mamburao’s tuna was being exported to the European Union member countries because it conformed to international standards for exporting tuna. In the Philippines, fishermen are encouraged by the World Wildlife Philippines to use artisanal or pole-and-line fishing, instead of using large, industrial nets that will kill a lot of marine life that are not tuna.
Importers from European and Asian countries are said to prefer tuna fished through hand line methods because it maintains the intactness of the flesh as well as maintain its excellent fresh taste.
Today, most of the tuna being exported by the Philippines to Japan, Korea, Australia, Switzerland, Germany come mostly from Mamburao and Sablayan.
The tuna industry has long been considered as one of the backbones of Occidental Mindoro’s economy. The province is rich and blessed with yellow fin tuna that continuously cruise along the Mindoro Strait giving a strong food basin for tuna fishers.
Now Mamburao Occidental Mindoro is tagged by WWF-Philippines as the “emerging new tuna capital of the Philippines,”.
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