The Small-Scale Fishing in the Philippines: Something That Must Also Be Paid Attention To

Fishery is considered one of the main sectors of the Philippine economy contributing to food production, livelihood for Filipinos, and even for export or foreign trade. Filipinos have managed to organize themselves as small-scale fishers since no government initiative, except total disaster, was held existent even since. They have been doing it as an organization in order to have a wider support from resellers and purchasing companies. Their fishing gears are mainly the hand line and troll. There are no less than 20, 000 crafts of paddle, engine, or sail for fishing at night time. In the daylight, they use motorized boats and fish as far as they can get as long as they do not cross the border of the other territories.

As defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, small-scale fishing is a traditional way of aquatic livelihood among households spending only small amount of capital and energy including small fishing vessels, short fishing trips due to limited gasoline if using automated boats or energy for manually operated ones, and close to shore. It is also mainly for local consumption. In the Philippines, this sector constitutes a very large population as the country is archipelagic in nature, and that the main livelihood of the Filipinos is fishing, if not farming in the uplands.

Philippine seas are bountiful with almost all kind of water species that can be eaten by human beings. Filipinos can survive without professional jobs, and that they can only go fishing freely as the seas have no private control. No one privately owns the seas, and the government allows every Filipino to hunt for fish unless if dynamite fishing is involved. So basically, this livelihood has been the main source of providing education to their children, proper clothing for the entire family, and good food on the table among Filipinos. Small (fishing) but terrible as it is.

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This livelihood is dominated by men. Women are not allowed to join their husbands or do the fishing alone except if they have no husbands. Mostly, they are seen working on gleaning for the shells and selling the catch of their husbands. As also reflected by patriarchy in the Philippines, women are somewhat being downplayed with their contributions. In fact, many of them get to be embarrassed once other people know their livelihood. However, just recently, globalization arose and has started to promote women labor in Asia, and the Filipino women adopted to it.

This sector contributes largely and significantly to the Philippine economy. It supplies the bulk of dietary fish requirement for nearly 90 million Filipinos that it provides direct employment to 1.4 million Filipino fishers nationwide (Perez et al, 2012). However, some maritime disorders have damaged the sustainability and progress of the sea resources in the Philippines as well as the neighboring Asian countries. While big corporations operating on seas are not affected at all by these problems, it is these small and local fishers who are very devastated as they can no longer secure their food supplies.

These resources have been declining since the mid-twentieth century because of unregulated extraction of resources to produce technology as well as the technology itself extracting resources to catch more fish for manufacturing such as sardines and tuna. The ecosystem can no longer produce the increasing demands of these corporations. These companies would argue that it is dynamite fishing committed by local fishermen that causes this destruction.

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For an analysis, how can the ecosystem present on seas be destroyed easily by small dynamite fishers? They are only small, and the abundance of sea could only restore itself to equilibrium, and the government is also strictly monitoring for the sea welfare. It there are those who can escape from the sea patrol, then it could be only be a small number of them. When the local fishermen are asked, the same answer would be the big corporations as responsible for such destruction.

What these local fisherfolks demand today is sustainable development. It means improving and maintaining the well-being of their families and ecosystems on seas as well. To achieve this end, strategies have been put in place as integration of socio-economic and ecological perspectives and of the policies, programs, plans of interacting sectors and interest groups. They want a kind development that can address the problem of large number of people who live in total poverty. They are also needed to be monitored by the agencies to ensure their welfare and to continue fishing.

Economic development would not be realized without their manpower. Economic and social development, furthermore, can be mutually reinforcing. When the other sectors are enjoying benefits from social services, they should also be benefited with the same thing. Their human needs such as food and security have to be secured. They are only small but are critical in the country’s economic growth. They must be paid attention to because, in the Philippines, there seems to be less watch taken to them.

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Sustainability is a process in which exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, technological orientation, and institutional charges have to be made parallel with the future to make sure these fisherfolks will continue contributing to the Philippine economy. The concept of small-scale fishing has remained such “small-scale” because the government is not supporting them in the first place. They can be given proper fishing equipment to provide bigger catch to be sold at the market. No doubt why these fishermen are still poor.

There is an abundance of sea resources, but they still struggle with their daily lives. It has already been stated that they have managed to survive in their day-to-day living, but when asked about sustainability, progress, they would only say that what they are having are consistent and freezing. They cannot go up from their current condition. They need support as they are supporting the Philippine economy. Food supply from seas have remained abundance just because of them, but their poverty is not still lifted up.

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this brings me back to the time when I was still 5 years old. I went fishing with my father. A challenging life it is.

There is an abundance of sea resources, but they still struggle with their daily lives. It has already been stated that they have managed to survive in their day-to-day living, but when asked about sustainability, progress, they would only say that what they are having are consistent and freezing. They cannot go up from their current condition. They need support as they are supporting the Philippine economy. Food supply from seas have remained abundance just because of them, but their poverty is not still lifted up.

So true like the farmers. I always wonder and keep on asking WHY.