MUNICIPAL fishermen, fishpond owners, fish-food producers, and other stakeholders lauded President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s pronouncement of a need to increase fisheries and aquatic sector production to achieve food security for all Filipinos.
The members of the food and livelihood advocacy group said this is the first time that a President of the Republic has repeatedly made statements on developing infrastructure and facilities to improve fishery production.
Last week, Marcos ordered the construction of fish ports in 11 coastal provinces.
“We are happy with the President’s focus on agriculture, including the fisheries and aquatic sector. This is a step in the right direction,” said Atty. Asis Perez, former national director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
“The next possible step is the creation of a technical working group with government and the private sector to craft and draft policies to ensure the development of the sector,” he added.
Norbert Chingcuangco, co-convenor of the advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan, added: “For the longest time, saling pusa lang kami sa BFAR, ang BFAR saling pusa sa DA. Now the President is putting importance on the fisheries and aquaculture sector.”
“This attention can be institutionalized in the (creation of) Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. This way, we can prevent what happened last time when the importation of vital ingredients to fish feeds was unceremoniously prohibited. Structural reform in the sector will address so many problems,” he noted.
Tugon Kabuhayan member Dennis Calvan said policy reforms and strong government support are needed to address not only the oil spill but also the illegal fishing that adversely affects the income of about 2 million registered municipal fishermen.
“We ask President Marcos to address the issue of illegal fishing which causes annual losses of about 257,000 to 402,000 tons valued between P24-37 billion for our fishermen,” he said.
Calvan also proposed to strengthen the fish landing centers.
His group further proposed other reforms for a self-sustaining fisheries and aquaculture sector – long-term permits for sea cages for bangus and tilapia which are now renewed every year, and improvement throughout the value chain from hatchery to nursery to growing to storage.
Christopher Co, vice president of Oversea Feeds Corporation, said continuing fishpond lease agreements will make for continuous production, adding “If we have enough local supply, then prices would go down. Local production is the answer to keeping prices stable. Importing our fish will only make the prices go up.” (PNA)/PN
