The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said Wednesday that fishing bans in oil spill-hit areas in Mindoro should be maintained to ensure food safety.
“To help affected municipal fisherfolk get back to their livelihoods, the DA-BFAR has recommended alternative fishing grounds, in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government,” BFAR said.
These are the municipal waters of Paluan, Abra de Ilog, San Jose, and Magsaysay in Occidental Mindoro; Boac and Gasan in Marinduque; and Concepcion in Romblon.
The agency said it will provide affected fishers with fuel subsidies as additional assistance.
BFAR has been evaluating contaminant levels in seafood samples from these areas to determine if fish, seaweeds and other marine organisms are safe for public consumption and if fishing grounds placed under fishing bans should be reopened.
“The results of oil and grease analysis in water samples collected from affected areas on April 10 showed that significant increases in amounts from previous analyses, albeit still within the standard of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources based on water classification and use,” the agency said.
“Low-level polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs] were also detected in all fish samples collected on April 3.”
Furthermore, PAH accumulation was observed in samples collected from the municipalities of Bongabong and San Teodoro; however, there is currently no sufficient data showing an increasing trend.
Tests will be taken to gather needed time-series data and confirm if accumulation is taking place in marine organisms collected from the province.
Seafood exports
Meanwhile, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) is urging local producers to comply with the restrictions set by Qatar for frozen seafood exports.
Philexport noted that Philippine chilled seafood products will be subjected to some restrictions. This is after the “necessary measures” were said to be taken as a precautionary measure to ensure compliance of shipments.
The group said the public health ministry of Qatar has required the submission of a Certificate of Conformity issued by third-party pre-shipment inspection at the country of origin before the products are shipped for export.
The temporary ban was implemented in November 2022 as a precautionary measure to monitor the risk of contamination of fresh and frozen seafood products with Vibrio cholera bacteria.
It was lifted in March, according to an advisory issued by the Department of Trade and Industry.
Qatar has also lifted the temporary ban on imports from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The Export Marketing Bureau said Philippine exporters should continue their strict compliance with food safety regulations to ensure the continued acceptance of their products in Qatar and other export markets.
In an earlier advisory published by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Export Marketing Bureau, the bureau reiterated the provision under the Fisheries Administrative Order No. 210, series of 2001: Rules and Regulations on the Exportation of Fresh, Chilled and Frozen Fishery/Aquatic Products.
The said provision indicates that only fish products which have been processed in fish processing establishments certified by BFAR to be compliant with the Standard Sanitation Operating Procedures and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system will be exported.
The fisheries administrative order noted that a fish processing establishment is “any premises where fish products are prepared and processed as chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, canned, packaged or stored.”
According to the fisheries administrative order, HACCP is the “preventive quality management system which identifies, evaluates and controls the hazards which are significant to food safety.”
“A HACCP Plan is a company’s written document delineating the procedures to be followed in accordance with the seven HACCP principles to ensure food safety.”
Meanwhile, SSOP are written procedures to be followed to ensure that the processing and production of a certain product is “carried out under sanitary and hygienic conditions.”
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