Complementary measures are needed to ensure food and livelihood security for municipal fisherfolk and commercial fish workers in the Philippines during the closed fishing season, according to the international organization Oceana.
In a statement, Oceana has called for the implementation of sardines management plan during the closed fishing season.
To be specific, the closed season in the Visayan Sea started on November 15 and will end on February 15, 2021, while the Zamboanga Peninsula closed season for sardines began on December 1, 2020 and will end on March 1, 2021.
During this period, the catching of sardines using purse seine, ringnet, bagnet, and scoop net within the aforementioned areas is prohibited.
Purchasing, selling, offering, or exposing for sale, and possession of sardines and other fish products caught during the closed fishing season is also prohibited.
“The declaration of the closed fishing season by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources this year takes a more significant turn because the National Sardines Management Plan was signed and up for implementation,” said Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Oceana Vice President.
The international ocean conservation group pointed out that the strong enforcement of the closed season can be complemented by the participatory process that the Sardines Management Plan provides.
Ramos said this is an opportunity to engage fisherfolk, civil society groups, local governments, and other stakeholders in crafting the Fisheries Management Plan of sardines as an important element of managing the impact of the closed fishing season.
“With the spatial and temporal closure in the portion of the Visayan Sea, it is imperative for Fisheries Management Area 11 and pertinent Fisheries Management Areas through the Management Body and put in place a monitoring and evaluation mechanism that will look into the biological condition of the fisheries resources, and socio-economic impact of this harvest control measure,” Ramos said.
“This science-based intervention of policies and plans that are developed through the participatory mechanism of the Fisheries Management Area will be most helpful,” she added.
According to Oceana, sardines is an important fisheries resource especially in this time of pandemic and calamities when it is one of the items commonly given out to the affected families in relief and emergency response packs.
However, the country’s sardines municipal fisherfolk are also among the poorest of the agriculture sector that are most in need of this support.
In the recently released third-quarter report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), fisheries registered a 1.9 percent increase in output, contributing 15.8 percent to the total agricultural production.
Bali sardinella or tamban, in particular, posted a 31.5 percent growth and among the two other fisheries species that posted higher production growths. The others being bigeye tuna with 39.9 percent increment, and blue crab at 25.5 percent.
“As we continue to grapple with the challenges of the pandemic, climate change and fisheries management. Our fisherolk bear the heavier burden than any other sections of our population. Ironically, they are our food producers that suffer the most from hunger, barely able to give their children their basic necessities of shelter and education,” Ramos further said.
Oceana is an international advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans. Since 2014, Oceana has been working closely with national and local government agencies and stakeholders to restore the abundance of Philippine fisheries and marine resources.