THE PHILIPPINE FISHERFOLKS

Through the ages, fishing has been

one of the earliest occupations
known to man. It has grow from
crude and simple beginning into a
complex industry with modern
equipment and installations. The
commodities that man derived from
the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers
are more numerous and varied than
what is commonly known.
 Fishing is an important Philippine
industry. It ranks next to farming
and livestock raising in providing
the food requirements of the
population. Fish comes next to rice
as the staple food of the Filipinos.
Fishing employs thousands and
millions are dependent on the
industry for their livelihood.
Current Issues affecting Filipino Fisher folks

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 Cultural & environmental realities

 The Philippine is an archipelago located in the Indo-west pacific region, an area

recognized for its marine biodiversity. It is composed of 7,100 islands with a discontinuous
coastline of approximately 17,460km, the countries total territorial waters, including the
Exclusive Economic Zone cover 2,200,000 sq.km coastal and oceanic water cover 266,000
sq.km and 1,934,000 sq.km respectively. The country’s shelf area at depth of 200 m totals
184,600 sq.km.
 As an archipelagic state with over 2.2 million km2 of highly productive seas, the
Philippine is fortunate to have vast fishery resources at its disposal. Although recognized
the world over for its outstanding and productive marine ecosystem' the country is
suffering from the same maladies besetting other fishing nations due to neglect,
widespread destruction and abuse of this resources.
 Current social realities

 Fisherfolk remain to be one of the poorest sectors in the Philippines, with a poverty incidence of
34 percent, as recorded by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2017.
 Their plight, however, remains unheeded as they commemorate the 20th anniversary of the
Philippine Fisheries Code, the “bane” of their livelihood.
 In order to register their indignation, the fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang
Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas) joined the national day of protest for rights,
freedom, and democracy on February 23.
 “Fisherfolk issues are related to national issues besetting the people such as the attacks of
neoliberal policies on socio-economic rights, state fascism, and oppression
At present, there are about 1.7 million registered
fishermen in the country, despite their significant
contribution to the country they remain as the most
marginalized sector.
The current condition of fisheries in the Philippines and
worldwide is bleak. Overfishing, illegal fishing and habitat
destruction combined with increased demand for fish
and population growth continue to drive fisheries
production into a deeper abyss. Seemingly impossible just
20 years ago, protein deficiency among fishing
communities is now increasing at an alarming rate.
 Current economic reality

 The fishing industry is beset with many problems. Inspite of the fact that the Philippines has
favorable conditions for the development of the fishery resources still up to now, we are
importing fish products.
 Cost vs yeild
 The cost of fishing in terms of gasoline and time increased over the years while the resulting
yield relative to the cost is at its lowest since the 1950s.
 The volume of fish caught compared to fishing cost - known in conservation biology as
Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) - is steadily declining in the Philippines.
 The decrease in the CPUE in the Philippines indicates overfishing, which results to the
depletion of fish stocks and may also explain the over-all increase in fisheries production.
 Some observations in identifying the major
problems encountered by the fisher folks
and their are as follows:
 1. Fish marketing problems which resulted to:
- ill treatment of fish dealers
- sell perishable products
- depend on the availability of fish
- transportation not available
- would they make profit or loss
 Some observations in identifying the major
problems encountered by the fisher folks
and their are as follows:
 2. cannot afford education for the children
 3. income is not sufficient
 4. food is not sufficient resulted to under nourishment, diseases,
sickness
 5. worries of insecurities
 “Kahit mas mura ang isda noon, mas malaki pa rin ang kinikita ng tatay ko noon
kapag nagpa-laot kaysa sa akin ngayon,” said Maricel Gacela of Calatagan in
Batangas province. (Even if fish was cheaper then, my father’s income was still bigger
than what I earn today.)
 A single mother to two children, Maricel is one of the two million Filipinos who rely on
fishing as their main source of income.
 Maricel rents a fishing boat with two others at P500 a week. Half of the P1000 they
earn weekly goes to boat rental. The other P500 is divided equally among 3 workers.
 “Kapag kumita kami ng P250 a day, malaki na yun,” she said. (If we earn P250 a day,
that’s already big.)
 “Mas malaki pa nga kinikita ng mga nagbebenta ng isda sa palengke kaysa sa mga
mangingisda,” she added. (The profit of those who sell fish in the market is even
greater than those who catch fish.)
 When Ruperto "Ka Uper" Aleroza was just a boy, his fisherman father would
walk to the beach, throw a net and catch fish.
 From the abundant waters of Batangas, his family could easily earn the
equivalent of P1,000 in a day. They could afford to set aside some fish for
their own meals and use the profit for the rest of the catch to send the kids
to school.
 Ka Uper followed his father's footsteps and became a fisherman at the
age of 18. Now he is 61 and things couldn't be more different.
 "Ngayon, kailangan na namin mangutang sa iba para makabili ng makina
at bangka at mas malayo. Mahabang oras, malaking gastos, maliit yung
kita."
 (Now, we need to borrow money so we can buy a machine for our boats
and the fishing area is farther. It takes a long time, we spend a lot and we
earn so little.)
 He's lucky if in a day he can earn in the hundreds. Even then, debts have
to be paid.
 His story is the story of most small fisherfolk in the Philippines who, on a daily
basis, face dwindling fish supply, polluted ocean waters, climate change,
and the threat of displacement from their coastal homes.
 According to Phil star , some 300,000 Filipino fishery workers
“toil like slaves” in aquaculture farms and on commercial
fishing vessels for pay below minimum wage.
 Also noted were studies indicating that majority of the the
country’s “poorest of the poor” are now found in coastal
areas.
 Political realities

Debunking the Fisheries Code:

Small fishers lament heavy fines, loss of livelihood.
Instead of protecting the interests of the fisherfolk, the Amended
Fisheries Code allows private companies to control coastal lands
and waters for up to 50 years for commercial fishing or
aquaculture. This has led not only to a reduction of communal
fishing waters in the Philippines but also to the privatization of
these areas. With various reclamation projects also being
conducted in former fishing areas like Manila Bay, the fisherfolk
are forced out of their livelihood and their homes. In the
amended Fisheries Code, big foreign fishers rule the seas
 More burden for the fisherfolk
 Aside from the Philippine Fisheries Code, the fisherfolk also
have to face the effects of national policies and laws such as
the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) and the
impending charter change.
 Because of the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities and
oil products, there has also been an increase in fishing
production costs. According to PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas,
fisherfolk had to cut their trips from the regular 6-8 hours to 4-6
hours in order to save up because of the increased oil prices
due to TRAIN.
 Problems of the Fishing Industry

Foremost problems as cited by the Philippine Fisheries Commission are

the following:
1. Lack of technical know-how and technical manpower.
2. Inadequate transportation, distribution and refrigeration , in the
centers of production.
3. Imbalance in exploitation effort.
4. Alarming increase of water pollution cases.
5. Difficult execution of management due to dual control of
freshwater areas.
6. Inadequacy of fish seedlings.
 Social Workers Role to fisher folks:

Community Organizer such as:

 1. FACILITATOR
 Provides a process which will help the people discuss their
situation, identify and prioritize issues and problems,
identify solutions and formulate and implement plans to
resolve the key issues and problems.
 Social Workers Role to fisher folks:

Tend to play the role of Community Organizer such as:

 2. Animator
 Helps the people discover and use all its self-help potentials for
creative and constructive team work.
 3. Enabler
 Helps initiate a process of "liberation of initiatives." The enabler
helps release the creative initiatives of the people and ensures
that the development agenda evolves as part of the process
of change and is not imposed.
 Social Workers Role to fisher folks:

Tend to play the role of Community Organizer such as:

 4. Catalyst
 Hastens the process of change. The catalyst is successful
when the organizing process has been fully internalized by
the people.
 Social Workers Role to fisher folks:

Tend to play the role of Community Organizer such as:

 5.Advocate
 Helping people to speak up or speaking on their behalf so
that their views and opinions are heard and understood
when they can't speak up for themselves.
“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the
storm te“Thefishermen know that
the sea is dangerous and the
storm terrible, but they have
never found these dangers
sufficient reason for remaining
ashore.”
— Vincent van Gogh
found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining
ashore.”
“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the
storm found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining
ashore.”
— Vincent van Gogh