Is the Philippines capable of meeting its own need for fish and seafood? Atty. Asis Perez, former Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director, said yes.
Perez spoke at the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Inc. (PCAFI) roundtable on August 5, 2022 as a representative of the aquaculture and fishing industries. He lauded the current administration’s thrust towards food self-sufficiency vs. food security because it’s not just a matter of if available food can be bought cheaply, but that it also be caught or cultivated locally, calling it “a much-needed paradigm shift.”
The question is, is it something the Philippines can achieve? For the fishing sector at least, “the resounding answer is 100 times yes.”
Availability of resources
The Philippines does not lack for the resources needed, namely natural, human, technological, and capital.
The country has eight times more water than land area. If properly maintained, it should be able to provide adequate livelihood to the fishers who live beside them, not to mention produce more than enough fish and seafood to meet the needs of the nation.
And as is the case with a lot of aspects of agriculture, the country doesn't lack for experts and technology. It’s just that they are often underappreciated (not to mention underpaid) in this country, so they end up somewhere else, or the technology learned locally is applied in other countries but not in the Philippines itself. “Most of the experts in the field of fisheries and aquaculture are from the Philippines.”
He adds that the country has a lot of available capital, it just hasn’t been distributed properly. “We have what it takes to be self.sufficient in food, particularly fish,” he said in Taglish. We are in fact sufficient, despite claims by some quarters that there is such a thing as fish… shortage…. From our perspective, that is just to justify importation.”
A need for proper policies
Speaking “not as a former BFAR director… but as somebody who’s now raising fish… we are more than capable of reaching the goal of food self-sufficiency,” he stated.
In reference to the typhoons that pass through the country annually that are sometimes used to justify the lack of fish caught, he said, “Fish have growth compensation, and our farmers are very much aware of this. So if there’s a disaster in one area, will be compensated for in another area. So that natural cycle has always been there, but because of the tendency… to rely on quick fixes, then that natural balance was compromised, so to speak.”
So if this is a given, what then accounts for the poor performance of the country's aquatic industry? First is shortsightedness. “We are seen on what we produce today, but not on… the preparations we made many years before just to be able to harvest again six months later,” he said. “If you compromise just one day of harvest, you compromise six months of future ”
Another is an “imbalance in policy.” “All we need to have is a policy environment that will allow us to grow,” he said.
His call to treat agriculture as an industry and not as a charity case rings true across all sectors. “We’re being looked at as a recipient of dole outs, and that is the number one insult that is given to a farmer because… farmers are the ones feeding our people. We need support, not pity.” He cited practical examples:
Long-term permits. Perez cited the need for permits that last longer than a year. “Our lives depend on the water. Why would we invest… without the assurance of a permit the year after? It’s a big investment,” he said. “If you are assured of a long term permit, properly motivated to set it up.”
Proper distancing of fish pens. Perez also noted that for aquaculture, there should be a set distance between fish pens to limit and prevent pollution and cross contamination, likening the situation to the reason hog farms should be of a certain distance from each other. He also emphasizes the need for regular inspections from regulators to curb violators.
Access to raw materials. “We’re not asking for a subsidy for feeds,” Perez said. “What we need is to be able to buy ingredients without tariff.” He said that while feeds enjoy no tariffs, fish farmers who want to formulate their own feed do so at a high cost because of the tariff placed on the ingredients they need to do so.
Support for local fishers and fish farmers. Lastly was the appeal to prioritize local fish producers over importers, especially during harvest season.
He ended by saying that the President’s recent statements on food self-sufficiency have given them hope. “We’re looking forward to increasing production not just in the fishing sector, but probably by everybody.”