Development plan fails to address long-term neglect of fisheries sector

This refers to the article titled “How’s the economy? For whom?” (Mahar Mangahas, Social Climate, 12/9/23) which mentioned verbatim that “the ‘money-men’—the professionals in finance—always see a rapidly growing gross national product (GNP) as healthy. Those in the government emphasize GNP since they will enjoy tax revenues from the growth of domestic production and international trade.

”This prevailing mindset has influenced the country’s political and economic leaders to formulate and implement a development plan that does not squarely address the long-term neglect of agriculture, particularly fisheries.

The annual Philippine Fisheries Profile of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Philippine Statistics Authority indicated that the marine fish catch declined significantly from the peak of 2.426 million metric tons in 2010 to 1.815 million metric tons in 2022, or a decline of more than 0.6 million metric tons valued at P39 billion (2021 prices).

For the marine capture fisheries, Republic Act No. 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 and RA 10654 enacted in 2014 are intended to grant the rights of fisherfolk for the exclusive use of the 15-kilometer limit of the municipal water; rebuild the fish stock to the level equivalent to the fish carrying capacity; determine the total allowable catch based on the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) which is the amount of catch that the fish stock can sustain-on a long term basis; and assign catch quotas among the commercial and municipal fishers. It must be noted, however, that the country’s 12 fisheries management areas may have varying MSY levels.

As experienced, the marine capture fisheries management that covers the coastal water area of 26,600 square kilometers is a tall order because it entails the inevitable reduction in the number of commercial and municipal fishing vessels and the provision of technical and financial assistance relative to supplementary and alternative livelihood projects for those who will be affected.

The prerequisite to the capture fisheries management is to determine the MSY. Several articles on marine fisheries cited that the MSY is 1.9 million metric tons based on the catch and effort data during the period 1950-1994. On the other hand, the Food and Agriculture Organization paper on the estimates of MSY using the surplus production model has come up with the suggestion that the time series catch data, even without detailed effort data, can be examined. If the catch has dropped from a previous high level, it may mean that the stock is overfished and the average of the highest catches in the past may provide an independent approximation to the MSY.

The possible outcome of marine capture fisheries management will depend largely on the political will of the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture headed by Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. who is reportedly a billionaire and a fishing tycoon.

Edmundo Enderez,

edmenderez@gmail.com