Decade of fisheries warnings catch up with PH in US crab ban

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – For more than a decade, warnings over the country’s fisheries sector accumulated with limited enforcement until a United States ban on crab imports brought into focus what stakeholders describe as long-standing structural failures in coastal resource management.

The US restriction, which took effect on June 11, was triggered by what industry officials and local stakeholders said were over a decade-old set of problems confronting the fishery sector: unabated dynamite fishing, persistent trawl fishing, mining activities, and rising sea toxicity driven by plastic pollution.

The Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement–Negros (PRRM) and the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) said US authorities had flagged Philippine crab products as early as 2011 under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), through its National Marine Fisheries Service.

PRRM-Negros area manager Edwin Balajadia said the issue was not new.

“This is not suprising anymore. Philippine carb products had been red flagged by the US Seafood Watch since 2011,” he said.

Balajadia said the problem extended beyond documentation issues at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), pointing instead to systemic weaknesses in enforcement.

“The ban is a result of our government’s total neglect of our fishery sector. Now, we will be suffering the brunt of it,” he said.

He said long-standing environmental pressures also contributed to the US decision, including illegal fishing practices, trawl operations, offshore mining and marine pollution.

He added that agencies including the Department of Agriculture, the BFAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had remained “passive until now.”

Balajadia said such conditions had damaged marine ecosystems, particularly shallow coastal waters, and raised compliance issues under US marine mammal protection rules, which also consider incidental catch risks affecting species such as dolphins.

“The US ban is all about the chronic neglect of our government to enforce what is really stated under the Fishery Code of 1988,” he said.

The Fisheries Code prohibits destructive fishing methods such as explosives, poisons and electricity, and limits municipal waters to within 15 kilometers from the shoreline.

Large crab market

The restriction is expected to hit producers in Panay, Guimaras and Negros, which account for a significant share of as much as 60% of the national output.

Industry groups said the US is the country’s largest crab export market, accounting for about 90% of shipments, with the remainder going to Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan and the European Union.

The Philippines exports about 2,400 metric tons of crab products monthly to the US, worth around $60 million, according to industry estimates.

Following the US ban, farmgate prices for freshly caught crabs in Barangay Tomongtong, EB Magalona in Negros Occidental fell to about P110 per kilogram from P250 previously.

Nine coastal barangays in the first-class municipality produce blue crabs daily.

Tomongtong alone yields nearly one metric ton of crabs per day. The village previously hosted three crab-picking plants for export, all of which have since closed.

Across Negros Occidental, there were 24 crab-picking plants, most of which have also shut down.

Other crab-producing areas in the province include Manapla, Talisay City, Cadiz City, Sagay City and Escalante City in the north, and Valladolid, Ilog and Cauayan in the south.

Intervention sought

Provincial Board Member Hope Marey Depasucat of Negros Occidental said the restriction underscored the need for stronger monitoring systems and compliance with marine conservation standards required under US regulations.

She said fisheries governance must be aligned with international requirements.

Export group PhilExport-Negros called for urgent engagement between Manila and Washington, saying authorities must clarify the issues that led to the suspension and work toward restoring access to the US market.

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Lacson said the provincial government was coordinating with the BFAR for urgent intervention as the industry absorbed immediate economic losses.

At the community level, Haydiginia Bendecion, village chief of Tomongtong in EB Magalona, said the disruption had affected hundreds of fishing households dependent on crab harvesting and processing. In his village, an estimated 90% of families are dependent on crab-picking.

MBCCI vice president Frank Carbon said the ban put a spotlight on both regulatory gaps and sustainability pressures in major fishing grounds, noting that declining crab stocks could further complicate efforts to redirect exports to alternative markets. – Rappler.com