The waters of the Philippine archipelago are the waters of life, supporting fisheries that provide livelihoods to millions of people, and food to millions more. One of the most important fishes in the Philippines is tuna. From sushi to tuna steak to the humble canned tuna, this fish is beloved both in this country, and as an export to foreign countries. In fact, the Philippines is the world’s third largest tuna producer, with almost half of our country’s seafood exports coming from yellowfin, skipjack, and frigate tuna.

However, our precious tuna stocks are in danger because of climate change, overfishing, and illegal fishing. This is a problem for the common Filipino like you and me—but, more importantly, it’s a problem for the fisherfolk and coastal communities that rely on tuna for income and food. While the Philippine economy continues to grow, our fisherfolk are being left behind, with 2 out of 5 fisherfolk living below the poverty line. As our fishery stocks dwindle, almost 1.6 million fishers in coastal communities face the loss of their livelihood.

In recent years, fishers have had to look for tuna further from the shore, increasing their competition with larger fishing vessels and endangering their lives. Furthermore, tuna fishers are also financially dependent on their local traders, known as casas. Since tuna isn’t in season all year round, fishers have to loan money from the casas during lean months. Because of this indebtedness, they are unable to negotiate for better prices for their tuna.  Another problem for tuna fisheries is unsustainable fishing, when fishers catch more and faster than the tuna can replenish their populations. Unfortunately, unsustainable fishing is enabled by government investments, which increase fishing capacity without regard to the overfished state of our waters.

WWF-Philippines has been working on the Partnership Program Towards Sustainable Tuna (PPTST) since 2011, in our two project areas in Lagonoy Gulf and Mindoro Strait. The Sustainable Tuna Partnership (STP) builds on the achievements of the PPTST. The STP aims to give fishers a louder voice in local government, and improve their financial management and business skills. It also aims to provide an innovative investment scheme to help with savings in the high season, for availability in the low season. This will give fishers greater power to negotiate for their tuna prices. It also aims to reach out to casas, exporters and retailers to empower tuna fishers and give them a greater pull in the supply chain.

Since early 2022 the STP program has embarked on its latest endeavor. Entitled STP 2, the program now looks regionally as it lobbies for harvest control rules and strategies to safeguard the yellowfin tuna fisheries of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Tuna is a migratory fish that recognizes no geopolitical boundaries, and international cooperation is key to protecting them.

The program is also continuing its work in the communities of the Lagonoy Gulf and Mindoro Strait as it encourages fishers to adopt sustainable fishing practices and pursues new systems and emergent technologies to both protect fisheries and bring income to small-scale fishers across the country.

The STP 2 program now continues the work that was begun back in 2011. Together with the Tuna Fishers Associations (TFAs) and the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Councils (FARMCs) of Bicol and Mindoro, with the WWF Network and with the Tambuyog Development Center, the STP team is working hard to bring sustainability to the yellowfin tuna fisheries of the Philippines.