Philippine Fisheries - FTP-UNU

An Overview of
Philippine
Fisheries
PORFIRIO M. ALIÑO
The Marine Science Institute
University of the Philippines
Diliman 1101 Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is the 11th top fishing nation in the
world (Fig. 1, Table 1). This annual fisheries yield is
estimated to be worth around US$2.5 billion (estimated
at around 4.3% of gross domestic product) (Barut et
al. 1997). Annual harvest is around 1.67 million tons
from capture fisheries, the estimated value of which
was around US$578 million in 1994 (US$1 =
PhP23.75). This contributed to around 62% of annual
total fisheries catch, with the rest covered by
aquaculture and inland fisheries. Towards the early
1990’s, a decline has been observed in the municipal
fisheries (i.e., small-scale capture fisheries from less
than 3 gross ton boats). The decline has been offset
by commercial fisheries (i.e., capture fisheries from
more than 3 gross ton boats). Around 47% of this
capture fisheries (~787,000 tons) came from municipal
Figure 1. Marine production by countries, 1991. (Source: De Silva 1996)
Table 1. Asian countries’ artisanal fishing sectors. (Source: De Silva 1996)
fisheries and the rest (~885,000 tons) was from
commercial fisheries (Barut et al. 1997) (Table 2;
Figs. 2, 3). In the medium term development plan of
the Philippines (including the next 5 years), it is
projected that no further increases from municipal
fisheries are expected. Thus, it was emphasized in
the Philippine’s National Fisheries Agenda to arrest
the decline in municipal fisheries and sustain the
present levels. Commercial capture fisheries
production was expected to increase by around 10%
Figure 2. Philippine marine fisheries production, 1950-1994. (Source: BFAR and BAS Statistics 1994, in Barut
et al. 1997)
Table 2. Marine fisheries production (top) and annual economic benefits from fisheries (bottom) in the Philippines,
1996. (Source: White and Cruz-Trinidad 1998)
to compensate for the deficits from increased demand
due to population growth. Aquaculture was also
expected to account for over 35% of the total
harvests, and hence, complement overall fisheries
production (Aguilar 2001). By the year 2010, if the
annual population growth of the Philippines continues
at 2.4%, then a considerable deficit in fisheries yield
relative to per capita consumption is expected.
from surplus production models by Silvestre and Pauly
(1986) of pelagic catch and of the demersal catch
(Dalzell 1996), the Philippines has well exceeded the
estimated MSY. The calculated annual rent
dissipation from overfishing was estimated at around
US$130 million for demersal fisheries and around
US$290 million for small pelagics (Trinidad et al. 1993)
(Figs. 6 and 7).
As an archipelagic state composed of around 2,100
islands, the Philippines extends around 2,000 km north
to south from 4o05’ to 4o30’. The total territorial
waters cover around 2.2 million km2 and the shelf
area is around 184,600 km2 (Barut et al. 1997) (Fig.
4). Silvestre (1989) cites an initial delphi analyses of
the various fishing areas in the Philippines and shows
that most of these areas are already fully- to overexploited (Fig. 5). Based on some general estimates
One may note that since the Philippines is found in
the most diverse region in the marine world, its
multispecies and multigear fisheries (Fig. 8) manifests
the varied range of problems in the resources and its
developing economy. Thus, the country’s fisheries
experience indications of shifts in species composition
together with a decline in fisheries yield (see Dalzell
et al. 1987).
Figure 3. Philippine marine fisheries production, 1991-2000. (Source: DA-BFAR Statistics 2000)
The issues and concerns mentioned earlier can best
be exemplified by some of the following case
examples:
1. Lingayen Gulf and Manila Bay: too many
fishers and environmental stress
One of the common features in many fishing areas is
how the varying degrees of environmental stress
induced by human impacts interact with fisheries
25.00
0.0
-200.0
20.00
North Latitude (degrees)
-1000.0
-2000.0
-3000.0
15.00
-4000.0
-5000.0
-6000.0
10.00
-7000.0
-8000.0
5.00
-9000.0
-10000.0
Depth (meters)
0.00
110.00
115.00
120.00
125.00
130.00
135.00
East Longitude (degrees)
Straight Baselines
Treaty Limits
200 n.mi. E.E.Z.
Kalayaan Claim
-
Republic Act No. 3046 amended by R.A. 5446
Treaty of Paris (1898)
Presidential Decree No. 1593; 1978
Presidential Decree No. 1595; 1979
Figure 4. Schematic territorial boundaries and bathymetry map of the Philippines. (Source: Aliño, 1998)
Figure 5. Heavily exploited areas in the Philippines. (Source: Tandog-Edralin et al. 1987, in White and CruzTrinidad 1998)
overexploitation (e.g., siltation together with pollution
in Lingayen Gulf and Manila Bay; Padilla and
Morales 1997, Pauly and Chua 1988). The most
prevalent fisheries concern is the condition that is
referred to as ‘malthusian overfishing’. This condition
often related to an increasing density of fishers’
population and leads to using more efficient but
destructive fishing practices such as blastfishing
(Pauly et al. 1989). In addition, the competition
between commercial and municipal fishing activities
within municipal waters has been consistently seen
as one of the major concerns (Table 3; Figs. 9 and
10).
2. Municipal fisheries vs commercial fisheries
Due to the overexploited state in the coastal areas
and the need to regulate fishing effort (i.e., municipal
waters within 10 to 15 km from the shore), illegal
access by the commercial fleets has been seen as a
major problem in the fisheries sector. Smith et al.
(1983) has highlighted this quite well for San Miguel
Bay (Table 4). Note that the 89 trawlers belonged
only to 40 households (with 42% of its total value)
whereas the 2,300 small-scale fishing gears belonged
to 3,500 fishers (Silvestre and Pauly 1997). This social
equity and uneven competition have been considered
characteristic not only in the Philippines, but also in
many other coastal fisheries of developing countries.
Thus, solutions require greater empowerment
mechanisms (e.g., community-based efforts for
improved enforcement), which, to some extent, have
been initiated through some of the decentralization
devolution mechanisms of the Philippine local
government code of 1992.
Unfortunately, the small-scale municipal fisheries
sector also requires considerable effort reductions in
order to have any significant change to mitigate for
the decline of the fisheries resources (Hilomen et al.,
unpubl. rep.). As mentioned earlier, malthusian
overexploitation, together with the marginalization of
Figure 6. Surplus production models of the Philippines’ small pelagic and demersal fisheries. (Sources: Silvestre
and Pauly 1986; Dalzell et al.1986, in Silvestre and Pauly 1997)
Figure 7. Trend of catch per unit effort since 1948. (Source: Dalzell et al. 1987, in White and Cruz-Trinidad 1998)
the municipal fishers, have led them further to
desperate measures for more effective and
destructive fishing practices (e.g., blast fishing, poison
fishing) (Pauly et al. 1989).
3. Capture fisheries and mariculture
Due to the expected stagnation of capture fisheries
in the coastal areas and, on the other hand, with a
projected continuous increase in population, cheap
fish protein food may be less available in future
(Bernacsek 1987). Hence, mariculture has been seen
as the logical panacea to augment the fisheries
deficit. This suggestion, however, has been wrought
with problems such as the issue of degradation of
important fisheries habitats. In the Philippines,
fishpond conversion of mangrove areas has been
identified as one of the major cause of mangrove
Figure 8. Some fishing gears used in the Philippines. (Source: SEAFDEC 1995)
destruction (Aliño et al. 1998) (Figs. 11
and 12). Recently in the Lingayen Gulf,
the introduction of fish pens and fish
cages brought about serious problems.
Aside from the problems of water quality
and fish kills due to unrequlated
aquaculture activities (Fig. 13), further
displacement of fishers has occurred in
addition to the unfair access
arrangements in the commons (Verceles
et al. 2001).
4. Transboundary issues: pelagic
stocks and disputed areas
Morgan and Valencia (1983) shows the
importance of the Philippines in the
migration route of yellow fin tuna and
illustrates some important concerns in
shared stocks (e.g., round scads between
the Philippines and Malaysia in the South
China Sea and, in addition, Indonesia, in
the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea region) (Figs. 14
and 15). Ganaden and Stequert (1987)
reported on the innovation by the
Filipinos’ introduction of the payao (a
fish aggregating device; Fig. 16) and
suggested that catch rates in the
Philippines may be beyond their potentials
and may also have signs of growth
overfishing.
- bottom set gillnet
- fishtrap
- hook and line
- baby trawl
- lamp
- tabang
- bira-bira
- surface/floating gillnet
- sagap
- fish corral
Figure 9. Spatial patterns of exploitation of various municipal
fisheries in the Lingayen Gulf, Aug-May 2001. (Source: Hilomen
and Jimenez 2002)
Table 3. Comparison of the estimates of catch rates (in kg per trip) obtained for selected municipal fisheries in
Lingayen Gulf between 1985 and 2001. (Source: Hilomen & Jimenez, unpubl. rep.)
Fishery
2000-2001 d
1985
% decrease
A. Municipal
15.25 a
Gillnet
11.04
38.16
H/L
7.08
a
3.15
124.51
Fish corral
4.35 a
0.90
384.63
1.75
23.15
a
Fish trap
2.1
Baby trawl
31.3 b
14.68
113.17
Danish seine
26.8 a
14.17
89.18
Trawl
31.8 c
15.37
106.90
B. Commercial
a
Calud et al. 1989
b
c
Mines 1986
Value estimated in 1987 in Ochavillo et al. 1989
d
This study. CPUE in kg mn-hr-1 were translated to kg per trip by
multiplying CPUE with average number of actual hours spent fishing
each day.
20,000
18,000
16,000
Yield (mt)
14,000
12,000
1995
10,000
8,000
6,000
2000
4,000
2,000
-
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
Fishing effort (HP)
Figure 10. Sustainable yield and status (with years indicated) of combined commercial and municipal fisheries in
the Lingayen Gulf. (Source: Hilomen & Jimenez, unpubl. rep.)
An extrapolation by Ganaden and Stequert (1987)
for a 5-degree grid fishing area shows that compared
to other areas in the world, the Philippines has around
2 to 4 times more yield than the most productive
fishing area in the Atlantic (yield ~28,400 Mtons per
5o square), in the East Pacific (24,500 Mtons per 5o
square), and in the Indian Ocean (17,600 Mtons per
5o square). Aliño et al. (1998) have provided some
initial evidence of the possible decline of tuna stocks
especially in the South China Sea area.
Table 4. Summary of data on the duality of the fisheries in San Miguel Bay, Philippines. (Source: Smith et al. 1983)
Figure 11. Mangrove resource decline in the Philippines. (Source: World Bank 1989, in White and Cruz-Trinidad
1998)
Summary and conclusions
Silvestre (1989) provided some
recommendations on tackling the
various issues and concerns on
Philippine Fisheries:
1. Enhance capabilities of
Fisheries Management councils at
all levels specially through the
establishment of National and
Regional Fisheries Councils. To
date, with Republic Act 8550 (the
Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998),
the Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources Management Councils
(FARMCs)
have
been
Figure 12. Proliferation of fishpens in the Lingayen Gulf. (Photos by Dr. Gil
S. Jacinto)
this story was taken from www.inq7.net
URL: http://www.inq7.net/brk/2002/feb/02/text/brkoth_41-p.htm
Fish kill hits coastal town of Pangasinan
Posted:2:40 PM (Manila Time) | Feb. 02, 2002
By Inquirer News Service
BOLINAO, Pangasinan – A massive fish kill hit this coastal
town as millions of pesos worth of cultured bangus (milkfish)
died suddenly.
Mayor Jesus Celeste said there was no estimated damage
yet although one operator with 10 fish cages was said to
have lost about P4-million worth of bangus, while another
lost about P1-million worth.
Many operators of fish cages, as a result, have been
hastily harvesting their remaining stocks.
There are about 400 fish cages and 200 fish pens in
Bolinao, but the most affected were those in Barangays
Guiguiwanen and Luciente II.
Celeste said somebody could have poured a chemical
that poisoned the bangus. White fluid was found in the fish
cages, he said.
"Why was only one area affected if the cause was
pollution? Why not the entire Bolinao?" he asked.
He sought the help of the University of the Philippines
Marine Science Institute, which maintains a laboratory in
the town, to examine the chemical that caused the fish kill.
The incident occurred amid protests from residents about
the proliferation of fish cages and pens in Bolinao.
In a letter to the municipal council, Margaret Celeste,
elder sister of the mayor, said fish cages have been polluting
the waters off Barangays Lambes, Zaragoza, Catungi,
Tara, Culang, Luna and Luciente II, and parts of Barangays
Luciente I and Lucero.
"The areas occupied by fish cages and pens have
become polluted due to excessive concentration of fish
feeds, and the water quality (there) has deteriorated,"
Margaret Celeste said.
She warned that the presence of these fish cages "might
The fish cages and pens have already affected the
navigational route of the residents of Santiago Island,
especially at night, the mayor's sister said. Yolanda Fuertes,
PDI Northern Luzon Bureau
©2002 www.inq7.net all rights reserved
Figure 13. News of the recent fish kill in Bolinao, Pangasinan, downloaded from www. inq7.net on Feb 2, 2002.
(Photos were from www.upmsi.ph)
institutionalized by law. Unfortunately, they are mainly
a consultative body and would require improved ways
of making them more effective in actual management
interventions in the ground.
2. There is a need to clarify the management goals
that fisheries management programs often confuse
the management concerns that deal with intermediate
causes (e.g., overexploitation of fisheries and habitat
destruction) and those that deal with the root causes
(e.g., poverty, population growth, social equity, political
economy). Aside from the clarification of these goals
and objectives, it is crucial that appropriate
stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities be identified
to contribute to coordinated, integrated and
complementary outcomes.
Figure 14. Inferred migratory route of some tuna species passing through the Philippines. (Source: Morgan and
Valencia 1983)
3. Pursue innovative ways of reducing fishing effort
and more effective ways of enforcement and
compliance. Considering the dire depauperate
condition of the Philippines and widespread hunger
and deprivation in its social development, controlling
fishing effort requires more than the usual command
and control monitoring, control and surveillance
mechanisms of developed states. Much of the
succesful initiatives tended to provide social pressures
from the community through a changed social view
of community stewardship. A broader compliance
to local and national ordinances can be improved if
political-will is demnstrated by the local government.
On the other hand, many broad based organized
community (e.g., through militant peoples
organizations) or through citizens watch programs
known as Bantay Dagat (sea watchers or local
community coast guards) have also been succesful.
Though only documented in fewer cases in the
Philippines, some communities still assert some of
their local beliefs (akin to traditional ecological
knowledge and wisdom) as a guide for their fishing
practices (Mangahas 1993).
4. Explore incentives for livelihood-linked programs
to sustain resource management and disincentives for
sustainable practices. Due to the broader
development concerns prevalent in developing
countries, regulating fishing as a crucial livelihood for
the sustenance of fishers requires effective incentives
to shift towards sustainable practices. Some success
has been shown for areas where some fishers have
shifted towards some ecotourism related activities
involving marine sanctuaries where resource
extraction has been minimized (Vogt 1997). In
addition, it has been suggested that resource
enhancement activities involving community
stakeholders has shown some promise. Such
experiences in learning by doing as part their livelihood
and as stewardship responsibility creates a greater
social pressure for unsustainable practices. Reducing
product acceptance derived from unsustainable
livelihood practices (e.g., blast fishing and poison
fishing) and as compared to more acceptable
ecolabelled goods and services also offer
complementary value-added incentives.
Figure 15. Some shared pelagic stocks around the Philippines especially in the South China Sea. (Source: Morgan
and Valencia 1983)
5. Encourage joint ventures in international waters
and consider incentives in lightly exploited international
areas. The broad Philippine fisheries experience in
the region may offer the problems of its local fisheries
resource depletion to explore lightly exploited areas
in the Pacific international waters areas with other
regional partners (e.g., Indonesia and Papua New
Guinea). Improvement of the private sector and state
interaction needs to be explored further especially in
facilitating goodwill and clarifying mutually beneficial
trade agreements.
Figure 16. A ‘payao’ made of bamboo (based on de
Jesus 1982). (Source: Aprieto 1995)
6. Improve effectiveness of enhancement and
rehabilitation through an ecosystem and integrated
coastal management approach. Some reseeding
efforts and mangrove enhancement initiatives have
met with less success due to the inappropriate context
that they have been undertaken. Thus sea ranching
without sufficient efforts to regulate access and area
control (e.g., with a complementary marine sanctuary
area) or proper grow out educated cooperators would
not be sustainable. In addition, enhancement areas
situated in areas where conflicts in general usage of
the zones (e.g., international ports and industrial
discharges or possible pollution sources) would
jeopardize enhancement and rehabilitation. As shown
in the example for mariculture, more and more
fisheries management concerns of municipalities’ are
now being approached as part of its’ integrated coastal
development plans.
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