CALBIGA, Samar – Sardines, also called "tamban," catch at the San Bernardino Strait in Northern Samar has been decreasing since 2013.

Martha Cadano, the manager of the only sardine processor in Northern Samar, said the trend poses a challenge to the future of their business, Ken Matthew Sardines, which has 50 workers to sustain and only 500 bottles to produce.

The San Bernardino Strait connects the Samar Sea with the Philippine Sea, separating the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon from Samar Island.

It is also under Fisheries Management Area 7 (FMA) le d by the Bicol region. Other areas comprising FMA 7 are Sorsogon Bay, Ragay Gulf, Ticao-Burias Pass, Cariaga Bay, Magueda Bay, Irong-Irong Bay, and Samar Sea.

Cadano cited the decline of one of the 10 major fishery stocks in Northern Samar not only in its volume, but also in sizes, which they no longer needed to cut the fish in half during processing.

She added that the lack of an ice plant and cold storage facility also prompts farmers to sell their catch in Sorsogon.

“Since there are no storage facilities, we have to process our catch within a few hours and distribute the excess to the community for free,” she said, which means a loss for a small enterprise like them.

BFAR Eastern Visayas Assistant Regional Director Cylet Lluz said that although there is a National Sardines Management Plan signed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) aiming to address the alarming decline of the sardine stocks in the country, FMAs cannot implement a one size fits all policy.

"Region 8 is a member of 5 FMAs. The sardine production is not credited to us because it usually lands in Sorsogon," she disclosed.

Earlier, Oceana, an international advocacy organization, urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., concurrent Agriculture Secretary, to exact the implementation of the management plan for participatory and science-based fisheries management in FMAs.

It is a policy reform under Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 263, which delineated the country’s fisheries into 12 areas.