If you give a man a fish, he will have food for a day, so goes a Chinese proverb. However, if you teach him how to fish, he will be able to sustain himself for a lifetime. If we don’t watch out, this adage may soon become obsolete.
Similar to other essential resources, Philippine fisheries are on the brink of collapse, suffering from the relentless “exploitation of the commons.” The term “commons” refers to unoccupied land and all bodies of water that are regarded as divine resources available for the public to utilize as needed.
Unfortunately, these resources seem to have been overexploited to the brink of depletion. In spite of the Philippines’ extensive marine resources, which include 220 million hectares of coastal and oceanic waters and a coastline stretching 36,289 kilometers, the country is currently facing a deficit in fish supply.
Ask 63-year-old Ronnie Herrera and his son, Dondon, who is 18 years old. Bago Aplaya, a location where they previously fished, was once a sanctuary for fish in Davao City. However, on a particular noon recently, the elder Estrera had already docked his banca (outrigger) without any catch, despite having set out at dawn. “It is not just a recent occurrence; there have been numerous times we returned home empty-handed,” he expressed his frustration.
His son, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to have caught one ice box full of fish. Nevertheless, he remarked that the fish are becoming smaller in size and fewer in number, compelling them to venture further south into the waters of Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur. “The number of fishers in Bago Aplaya is already diminishing,” Dondon lamented.
Experts assert that the deteriorating condition of the country’s fisheries is primarily attributed to the local authorities’ failure to effectively regulate and supervise coastal fishing activities. Other contributing factors include widespread illegal fishing practices, a lack of political will to enforce fisheries laws and regulations, inadequate post-harvest facilities, and the encroachment of commercial fishers into municipal waters.
Actually, Filipinos have two sources of fish. But most people think that fish they are eating are taken out of the open seas like tuna, mackerel, snapper, rabbitfish, surgeonfish, grouper, blue marlin, pompano, and ponyfish. These are called captured fishes.
On the other hand, fishes like bangus, tilapia, catfish, mudfish, and eel are harvested from ponds, lakes, rivers, and other bodies of inland water. They are raised by farmers through aquaculture.
But still if you mention fish, people always associate it with the sea. What most people don’t know is that the fish they are serving in their dining tables these days come from the aquaculture industry which, according to the Development Academy of the Philippines, played a critical role in contributing to food security and employment, particularly in coastal communities.
“Aquaculture includes all forms of raising and culturing fish and other aquatic products in fresh, brackish, or marine areas,” explains the Iloilo-based Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Council (SEAFDEC). “The Philippines has a well-developed aquaculture industry, which is important for the country’s food security needs.”
The primary species of farmed fish in Philippine aquaculture are milkfish, tilapia, and seaweeds. These species dominate the freshwater, brackishwater, and marine environments, respectively.
“Recent years have witnessed considerable strides in (aquaculture industry) due to growing technological advancements, government patronage, and rising market demands,” SEAFDEC states.
Aquaculture is not a new technology. The practice has been a source of human protein for nearly 4,000 years, especially in Asia. It was the Malay emigrants who must have introduced the first fishponds of the Philippines long before the Chinese traders came to the country.
Fish farming is more advantageous than raising livestock. “For every kilogram of dry feed, we get one kilogram of fish meat,” said Dr. Uwe Lohmeyer of the Deutsche Gesselschaft fur Technische Zusammernarbeit (GTZ), a German Technical Cooperation. “This is a far more favorable rate than in the case of say, pigs: to produce the same quantity of pork, a farmer – given the same quality of inputs – has to provide three kilograms of feed.”
In recent years, aquaculture has become a big business around the globe. The Philippines has joined the bandwagon. Today, the Philippines is among the top fish producing countries in the world.
The Philippines is in fact one of the top producers of tilapia. The tilapia cultivation industry spans approximately 14,000 hectares of freshwater ponds and 500 hectares of fish cages in lakes and reservoirs across the country. Tilapia is also raised in about 200,000 hectares of brackishwater ponds.
Mariculture park – similar to an industrial or science park on land – is one of the best examples of aquaculture. In Davao Region, the city government of Panabo established the Panabo City Mariculture Park (PCMP) in 2006 in partnership with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), a line agency of the Department of Agriculture.
“Today, PCMP has been identified as one of the most developed mariculture parks in the country,” says Academician Rafael D. Guerrero III of the National Academy of Science and Technology.
There are several ways of fish-farming methods that farmers can apply. Some of these methods are based on outdoor ponds, some on fenced-off areas of rivers or bays, and some in buildings.
“But virtually all these would integrate fish production with other industrial or ecological activities: growing hydroponic vegetables, recycling urban waste, purifying fresh water, keeping rivers or wetlands healthy,” writes Anne Platt McGinn, a Worldwatch Institute researcher.
In the open seas, one of the best methods to control the rapid disappearance of fish stocks is banning commercial fishing in certain bays or gulf. In Davao Gulf, the regional office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) imposes such an idea for three months.
During the closed fishing season (from June to August), the use of bag nets and ring nets and fishing vessels regardless of tonnage are strictly prohibited.
The closed season is officially established by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) through Joint Administrative Order No. 02, titled “Establishing Closed Season for the Conservation of Small Pelagic Fishes in Davao Gulf.”
According to this scheme, the annual closure enables the replenishment of fish stocks and supports the reproduction and growth of marine resources, highlighting that the closed fishing season policy is a crucial measure for the conservation and protection of the country’s fishery resources.
The closed season is also seen as one of the measures to curb illegal fishing in the Davao Gulf.
