More aid for seaweed pushed

THE PHILIPPINES’ dominance as among the world’s top exporters of seaweed could be challenged by Southeast Asia peer Vietnam which is beefing up funding for its aquamarine industry, claimed a lawmaker who’s lobbying for a bigger budget for the sector and an independent fisheries agency.

Fishermen load their boat with seaweed in this file photo. -- BW FILE PHOTO

“Tayo ang number 1 exporter ng carrageenan sa buong mundo. Pero bumababa na ang ating market share dahil ang Vietnam mas maganda ang suporta sa industriya, at siyempre mas maganda na ang output (We are the number 1 exporter of carrageenan in the world. But Vietnam is eating into our market share because the latter provides the industry better support and therefore produces better yields),” Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said in a statement released by his office over the weekend.

BusinessWorld could not immediately verify Mr. Pangilinan’s claims about Vietnam possibly overtaking the Philippines in terms of seaweed exports, but separate tallies including from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed the Philippines among the world’s three biggest seaweed producers along with Japan and China. Indonesia was in the FAO list of main seaweed producing countries, but Vietnam was not.

The Philippines ships seaweeds fresh, frozen or as carrageenan and agar-agar.

The aquamarine product is an input in meat processing, processed food, dairy products, condiments, personal care products, pet food products, and in some industrial consumer products such as air fresheners, oral care, pharmaceutical products, among others.

Latest available data from the Fisheries Bureau show that the country exported 24, 516 metric tons of carrageenan, refined and semi-refined, becoming a P9.31-billion (free-on-board) industry in 2014. This is an increase from the P7.38 billion it brought in with 20,728 metric tons of exports recorded in 2013.

“With a global market of 50,400 tons amounting to $615.9 million in 2013, there remains much room for growth in the manufacture of carrageenan through investments in the production of raw materials (seaweed), advanced technology for processing, and the conduct of sound research and development initiatives to enhance locally produced carrageenan,” the statement added.

The chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said the agency will exhaust support for the seaweed industry.

“We have to maintain our level of seaweed exportation, our market, that’s why the DA (Department of Agriculture), the BFAR will help that industry,” said DA Undersecretary for Fisheries and BFAR Director Eduardo Gongona in a phone interview over the weekend.

A former presidential adviser on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, Mr. Pangilinan raised concerns over how the department’s budget is tilted towards getting more resources out of agricultural lands while financing for the fisheries industry was thin.

The department’s budget mix is 90:10 in favor of agricultural land, he said.

Mr. Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, is set to conduct on Thursday the first hearing on separate measures seeking to create a separate Department of Fisheries.

Different bills had been submitted before the 17^th Congress calling for such move, including those authored by Pampanga (2^nd District) Representative and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Agriculture Secretary-turned-Bohol (3^rd District) Representative Arthur C. Yap.

The BFAR is currently an attached agency of the DA. Former BFAR Director Asis G. Perez, who is in favor of the move, has expressed optimism the plan will materialize under the Duterte administration.

“The sector has been lobbying for this for a long time, albeit unsuccessful. This is the first time that government is seeing the potential of the resource and the sector,” Mr. Perez said in a text message on Sunday.

With areas of responsibility spanning “around eight times that of land,” the structure of the bureau is “not sufficient” to develop aquamarine resources to its full economic potential, hence warranting the creation of a separate department to address all the problems of the fisheries sector, according to Mr. Perez. -- Janina C. Lim