By Jims Vincent T. Capuno
If the Philippines does not watch out, it may not have enough fish, once dubbed “the poor man’s protein,” to feed its growing population.
Like the other vital resources, Philippine fisheries are about to collapse – a victim of the almost unabated “plunder of the commons.” As defined, commons encompasses unoccupied land and all water which are considered a God-given set of resources for the people to consume as much as needed.
But in doing so, the Filipinos have tended to abuse these resources to the point of exhaustion. Despite the country’s vast marine resources – 220 million hectares of coastal and oceanic territorial water area – the Philippines is now experiencing a shortfall in fish supply.
The unthinkable has come to pass: Estimates show that if the present rapid population growth and declining trend in fish production continue, only 10 kilograms of fish will be available per Filipino per year by 2010, as opposed to 28.5 kilograms per year in 2003.
“Without any change in fish consumption and no active human population management program,” the World Bank warned, “domestic demand for fish will reach 3.2 billion kilograms by 2020, given the projected population growth rate of the country.”
Fish provides more than half of the protein requirements of the estimated 89 million Filipinos. “About 62 per cent of the population lives in the coastal zone,” says World Bank’s Philippine Environment Monitor.
“Our problem is population,” wrote Antonio C. Abaya in his widely-read newspaper column. “We are having more children faster than we can grow the food to feed them.” Dr. Arsenio Balisacan, former agriculture secretary, agrees: “Demand for food is growing fast not because our incomes are growing but because our population is growing at 2.3 percent a year. That’s almost two million additional mouths to feed every year.”
If increased demand is met solely by marine capture fisheries, such increased pressure on the fisheries sector could lead to an eventual collapse of fisheries and the fishing industry, which employs more than one million people (about 5 per cent of the national labor force).
“All fisheries are showing decline in total catch and per unit effort (total number of fish caught per unit of time) despite increasing effort,” the World Bank report noted. “Fish are harvested at a level 30 to 50 per cent higher than the natural production capacity.”
This phenomenon is not happening in the Philippines only but in other parts of the world as well. “Although worldwide environmental degradation of the oceans contributed to the decline of marine life, overfishing is the primary cause of dwindling fish population,” explained Peter Weber, author of Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine Environment.
As supply falls behind demand, fish becomes a more expensive food source. It is no longer “a cheap meat dish,” to quote a marketing slogan used in the United Kingdom in the 1950s.
The Philippines is among the largest fish producers in the world. The commercial, municipal, and aquaculture fisheries account for 36, 30, and 24 per cent of the total fisheries yield, respectively. Its annual total fisheries yield is estimated to be worth around US$70- UD$110 billion (equivalent to about 2-4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic production over the years).
“We still have enough fish now, but with global warming we may have problems in the next five to ten years unless we do something about it,” warns Dr Rafael D. Guerrero, former executive director of the Laguna-based Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).
Global warming refers to an increase in average global temperatures, which in turn cause climate change. According to Dr. Guerrero, climatic changes affecting the fisheries sector would affect the entire nation considering that fish is a staple food and millions depend on it for livelihood.
His observation has been confirmed by a recent report released by the United Nations. “At least three quarters of the globe’s key fishing grounds may become seriously impacted by changes in circulation as a result of the ocean›s natural pumping systems fading and falling,» the UN report said
The Philippine fisheries would also suffer severely if the country’s coral reefs are badly affected by warming seas. Dr. Guerrero explained that in key areas in the country, coral reefs are already threatened by carbon dioxide concentration resulting in acidification of seawater.
Christian Nellemann, author of the UN report, reported that more than 50 per cent of the world›s coral reefs could die by 2050 because of bleaching caused by higher ocean surface temperatures, based on climate projections by international scientists.
In the Philippines , an estimated 10-15 per cent of the total fisheries come from coral reefs. About 80-90 per cent of the income of small island communities come from fisheries. “Coral reef fish yields range from 20 to 25 metric tons per square kilometer per year for healthy reefs,” says Dr. Angel C. Alcala, former environment secretary. But only four to five per cent of coral reefs are in excellent condition. “Nowhere else in the world are coral reefs abused as much as the reefs in the Philippines,” says marine scientist Don McAllister.
And he may also be talking about the fishery situation in the country.
