Latest progress in the Philippines

Download: Latest progress in the Philippines (.pdf file)
The latest Philippines certification is a double one in that a group, the Marcilla Tropical Fish Collectors’ Association (MTFCA), was assessed and certified as complying with the MAC Ecosystem and Fishery Management (EFM) and the Collection, Fishing and Holding (CFH) international standards. The immediate result of this certification is that it has expanded the range of species available for export.Located (along with another 23 villages) in the municipality of Coron in the north-eastern region of Calamianes – a group of islands in northern Palawan – Marcilla regularly ships its fish to MAC-certified exporters in Manila (Aquarium Habitat and HD Marine). A ‘master list’, i.e. a complete species profile, is currently being drawn up for Marcilla. I have been in touch with John Brandt, MAC’s North America director, who informs me that when this task is completed, the most popular species for export are expected to be similar (but not necessarily identical) to those that form part of the ‘master list’ of three other certified collecting areas: Batasan, Tangaran and Camotes. If so, these are likely to include the striped or black-tail humbug (Dascyllus melanurus), blue streak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), several clownfishes (e.g. the false percula clown, Amphiprion ocellaris, the tomato clown, A. frenatus and the yellowtail, black or Clark’s clown, A. clarkii), several butterflyfishes (e.g. the copperband butterflyfish, Chelmon) and blue Koran and six-barred angelfishes (Pomacanthus semicirculatus and Pomacanthus (formerly Euxiphipops) sexstriatus).The momentum created by the Coron certification is continuing elsewhere in the Philippines, with three new areas applying for assessment: Hambongan Island (Inabanga) in Bohol, Tara Island (in the municipality of Coron, i.e. the same municipality as Marcilla) and New Busuanga, these two last being in Palawan.If these applications prove to be successful, they will raise the number of MAC-certified collection areas within the Philippines to seven and will obviously expand the range of certified organisms that will become available, as well as total quantities.On the retail front, Direct Aquatic has become the first Manila-based retailer to become certified. As a result, the Philippines can now boast of having the complete “from reef to retail” chain of custody which forms the core of the MAC philosophy.
The Traceability componentA further aspect of the…