Importing seafood from the Philippines

The Philippines has over 36,000 kilometres of coastline, making it one of the most significant fishing nations in the world. Seafood is a major export category, and the country supplies markets across Asia, the US, and Europe.

Tuna

Tuna is the headline product. General Santos City, in southern Mindanao, is officially recognised as the Tuna Capital of the Philippines. The city's fish port is home to several major tuna canneries and processors, and it provides jobs for more than 200,000 people. Philippine tuna goes to Japan (for sashimi-grade product), the US and EU (for canned and processed tuna), and across Southeast Asia.

Tuna species commonly sourced from the Philippines include yellowfin, skipjack, and bigeye. Fresh and frozen tuna (loins, steaks, saku blocks) are the premium products. Canned tuna is the volume product. There's also a growing market for smoked tuna and tuna jerky as value-added products.

Beyond tuna

Tuna gets the most attention, but the Philippines exports a range of other seafood:

Milkfish (bangus) is the national fish of the Philippines and a major aquaculture product. It's sold fresh, frozen, smoked, and deboned. The deboned milkfish market is interesting for buyers because it solves the main consumer complaint about the fish (too many bones).

Prawns and shrimp are farmed in several regions. Black tiger prawns and whiteleg shrimp are the main export species.

Seaweed is a big and often overlooked product. The Philippines is one of the world's top seaweed producers. Carrageenan, extracted from seaweed, is used as a thickener and stabiliser in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Raw dried seaweed is also exported for processing in other countries.

Squid and octopus are caught in significant volumes and exported fresh, frozen, or dried.

What buyers need to know

Seafood is one of the most heavily regulated export categories. Any Philippine seafood exporter must be FDA registered and comply with HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) standards. For exports to the EU, suppliers also need to be on the EU's approved establishment list. For the US, FDA compliance is mandatory.

Cold chain management is critical. From the moment the fish is caught or harvested to the moment it arrives at your facility, the temperature must be controlled. Ask your supplier about their cold chain infrastructure: do they have blast freezers? What temperature do they maintain during transport? How is the product packaged for export?

Traceability is becoming increasingly important, especially for tuna. Buyers in the EU and US are asking for catch documentation that shows where, when, and how the fish was caught. This is driven by regulations aimed at combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. A good supplier will have this documentation ready.

Getting connected

Finding the right seafood supplier in the Philippines depends on what you need. The tuna industry is concentrated in General Santos and the surrounding region. Seaweed comes primarily from the Visayas. Milkfish and prawns are farmed across multiple regions.

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