SHARED RESPONSIBILITY OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract:

The Philippines are an archipelagic country. There are about 7,100 islands and islets within the country’s territorial water of about 220,000 square kilometers. Vast and diverse fishery resources provide food and livelihood to about 70 million inhabitants. In 1997, the total fish production was about 2.7 million metric tons. The Philippines are the world’s 12th fish producer with a production of 2.3 metric tons of fish in 1995. Major exports are tuna and tuna-like fishes, shrimps and seaweeds. About one million people (5% of the country’s labor force) are engaged in fisheries and its related industries. The fishery sector, therefore, plays a very important role in the economy. Through the years, however, there has been a decline in the productivity of the marine and coastal resources, which has contributed to poverty among the municipal fisherfolk. The vicious cycle of poverty is the effect and cause of resource depletion and environmental degradation. The open-access nature of resource exploitation has also resulted in intensified resource use conflicts among the municipal fisherfolk. Further, the encroachment of commercial fishing vessels into municipal waters aggravated overfishing in most nearshore areas.

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