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By Marifel T. Moyano, Communication &
Information Division Haribon Foundation
As Filipinos, we love to eat fish. In fact, 10
to 13 percent of protein requirements of Filipinos come from coral
reef fish species. In an urban setting, fish is bountiful in the wet
markets, and a myriad of species is laid out for us to select from.
In contrast, in provincial coastal areas, some of us have
experienced encountering a fisher who carried his fresh catch in a
water pail, perhaps a couple of large “special” fish that they
he would walk miles for to sell these to the first highest bidder.
Clearly, as consumers we need to recognize that there is a growing
competition for the country’s diminishing fish stocks and the
scale has titled tilted heavily in favor of commercial fishers.
A multitude of stakeholders depend on fisheries
including municipal and commercial fishers, canneries, fish markets
and various industries. Fish provides direct income to some 1.3
million small fishers and their families. This generates an average
earning of P4,000 per household per month or over P62-billion worth
of employment every year. Indeed, many rural Filipinos still regard
the sea—traditionally considered as the “employer of last
resort”— as a place where any family could move for a secure
life (Green, et al. 2003).
Philippine fish production by sector in 2000 was
approximately 793,824 tons for municipal fisheries (using boats
smaller than 3 GT) and 946,485 tons for commercial fisheries (3 GT
and above). Commercial fisheries catch by value was P33.9 billion
while municipal fisheries catch amounted to P32.5 billion (BFAR
2000; Green et al. 2003). Overall production data appear heavily
skewed in favor of commercial fisheries. Between 1991 and 1996,
while Philippine fisheries production was static overall, the
contribution of commercial fisheries increased while that of
municipal fisheries shrank. Further, of the seven top species caught
by both sectors, 66.9 percent are harvested by commercial fishers
while only 33.1 percent are caught by municipal fishers (Green et
al, 2003).
In this situation, where fish catch has leveled
off and fisheries appear to have reached their maximum production
levels, if law enforcement remains weak, the further expansion of
commercial fisheries could only mean the decline of municipal
fisheries—any increases in commercial fishing effort will take
longer proportion of the already dwindling catch away from the
municipal fishers.
At the household level, the decline of municipal
fisheries means less fish available for the fisher’s family’s
own consumption. The decrease per capita consumption of food fish is
particularly pronounced in fishing communities that sell fish to
urban consumers. This is because, as the supply of fish decrease in
absolute terms and relative to demand, fish prices in the cities
shoot up. This prompts fishers to sell their most valuable catch for
cash income to buy rice or other staple food “more filling” than
fish, leaving only small and poorer quality of fish, if at all for
their own consumption (DENR 2001; Green et al. 2003).
Unfortunately in many places, the ordinary
fishers’ catch now consists of smaller, low-value fish that, even
when sold, earns just enough for a family’s subsistence. The
socioeconomic situation of small-scale fishers in the Philippines
has not improved in recent years but has deteriorated. In 2002,
based on a survey in six provinces, up to 80 percent of fishing
households were living below the poverty threshold (ADB et al. 2003,
Green et al.2003) Low incomes can be attributed to declining fish
catch, estimated to be about two kg a day, down from 20 kg a day,
which was the average catch during the 1970s (CRMP 1998; Katon et
al. 1998; DENR et al. 2001; Israel 2004; Santos 2004).
Today as well, degradation of coastal resources
cannot be separated from deforestation. For example, Surigao del Sur
has 1,252 forest-dependent families while there are about 1,400
municipal fishers. Marine communities have expressed concern over
loss of livelihoods due to deforestation and degradation of coastal
areas spurred by development projects such as commercial fishing and
mining, as well as unresponsive and unsustainable national policies,
which result to inequitable use of resources.
Although the Philippine Constitution of 1987
grants subsistence fishers preferential rights over communal waters,
and the Fisheries Code of 1998 spells out such rights by giving
municipal fishers preferential access to “municipal waters,”
policies have yet to be fully translated into action. Intrusion by
commercial fishers in municipal waters is rampant. Overall, law
enforcement is spotty. Many commercial fishers, long used to fishing
everywhere, continue to do so without legal consequences. They
insist they are being unjustly driven out of their traditional
fishing grounds. However, the law gives small fishers priority to
access to only 17 percent of the total marine waters of the country;
commercial fishers can still fish the remaining 83 percent (CRMP
2002, Green et al. 2003).
Haribon’s Governance and Local Development of
Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Project, supported by Cives
Mundi with funding from the Spanish International Cooperation
Agency, integrates stakeholders especially local communities and the
local government units to take action toward a more sustainable use
of their natural resources. The project has begun to rehabilitate
and conserve the mangrove resources of Cortes, as well as developed
a monitoring tool that would analyze the important land-sea
interactions.
Life is said to have begun from the sea, which
is a lifeline for many coastal communities all over the country, but
it is now fragile and under siege from destructive fishing practices
including over fishing. More projects that seek to uplift the lives
of small fishers by working with local fisherfolk communities for
the protection of their own marine resources—mobilizing and
empowering them to take control of their destinies and leave a
legacy—must be initiated by national decision makers for the
fishers’ children and the entire nation. It is only through
conservation and responsible utilization of our precious marine
resources that we can revive the benefits we used to enjoy from our
marine resources.
If you’d like to know more how you can help
conserve our country’s rich biodiversity, e-mail Haribon
Foundation at membership@haribon.org.ph.
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