World Bank Financing By $200 Million PH’s “Blue Economy” – The Reality Of Overfishing Makes The Concept Of The “Fish Management Area” Truly Necessary

Wow! The World Bank is setting aside $200 Million (P10 Billion+) to finance the PH project “Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency (FishCoRe)” to help 500,000 Filipinos to skillfullyrise above poverty in their capture and culture fisheries, and the country to intelligently conserve its marine resources. FishCoRe hopefully will be implemented this year.

(inset image from PCAF, pcaf.da.gov.ph)

In a letter to PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, WB Country Director Achim Fook said:

We fully support the goals of the FishCoRe Project to sustainably improve incomes of Filipino fisherfolk, and support resilient coastal communities through enhanced ecosystem management, productivity-enhancing technologies, aquaculture, reduced post-harvest losses, value-chain infrastructure, and related activities.

Mr Dar, chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to which the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is attached, says FishCoRe, a 7-year project, is BFAR’s “medium-to-long-term intervention to increase resiliency (considering) climate change and as a bounce-back strategy for the country’s ‘blue economy’ amid the Covid-19 pandemic (restrictions).”

BFAR has divided the Philippine archipelago into 12 Fish Management Areas (FMAs) in which “to sustainably manage fishery resources through a science-based and participatory governance framework.” Science must be followed, implemented by people from different groups public and private.

FishCoRe will benefit 500,000 stakeholders in fish capture and culture in FMAs 6 and 9 covering 11 regions and 24 provinces, 32 million hectares of waters. FMA 6 covers the coastal waters off the West Philippine Sea including Pagudpud Bay, Subic Bay, Manila Bay to Lubang Island; FMA 9 covers the waters in Bohol Sea, Panguil Bay, Iligan Bay, Gingoog Bay, Butuan Bay, and Sogod Bay.

Mr Dar said:

We are optimistic that the FishCoRe Project will be able to establish examples of good governance mechanisms, leading to better management of the “blue resources” and aquaculture development.

Here are the “key growth targets” – (a) increase in household income, (b) increase in value-added fishery commodities, (c) reduction in postharvest losses, and (d) reduction in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing incidences. In fact, (b) and (c) are designed to improve (a) income. Differently, (d) is designed to conserve resources by preventing overfishing.

Ah, overfishing is subtle. In technical terms, overfishing means “catching fish faster than stocks can naturally replenish themselves.” In practical terms, you catch the small fish and the females with eggs – and bring them home. Without small ones growing, how can there be more fish to catch later? Female fish with eggs – I remember as a young boy fishing with a hook or fish trap made of bundled tips of bamboo (the Ilocano “rama”), everyone wanted the fish eggs!

No, nobody told us that if we ate the pregnant females with their delicious eggs, who will give birth to the next generation of fish? We had eaten the next generation! A scientific fact that most fishermen either do not realize or do not accept.

The reality of overfishing makes the concept of the Fish Management Area truly necessary. It is long overdue. Congratulations, Secretary Dar!@517

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knorr Of Big Business Unilever Thinks Big Business Regenerative Agriculture – My Tiny Country PH Also Should!

Image
“Knorr’s plan for 50 regenerative agriculture projects is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use by an estimated 30% while improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods.” That is regenerative agriculture (RA) news by Julian Cirineo (05 Nov 2021, “Unilever Wants To Rethink How Farms Work To Secure Food And Resources For The Future,” Rappler , rappler.com ). Note: 50 (not 5 only) RA projects to improve greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and water use by 30% – plus improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods. Note the last 7 words in the above paragraph. How can RA improve biodiversity? RA requires that the farmer practices multiculture (a few or many crops grown at the same time in the same place), where monoculture (such as rice-only or corn-only) is the practice – the biodiversity improves crop health because of the ensuing balance of nature, such as some organisms feed on other organisms that would otherwise become pests or cause diseases. RA is your
Read more

In Looking At The Crown Of Thorns, I Found The Clowns

Image
We could use a surprise sense of humor!  Yes, especially on the wide problematic fields of Agriculture. There was this news that some high PH government officials wanted to probe Vice President Leni Robredo for “competing against” PH agencies in providing much-needed assistances during this coronavirus lockdown, and Marigs Laririt shared a picture-story on Facebook quoting Ms Leni as saying, “I didn’t know it was competition. I didn’t see any competitors!” Ms Marigs says, “Ay, parang friends ko kung sumagot si Mam.” (Ay, with Mam, it’s just like my friends answering back.) That is a two-handed backslap, and you can imagine the lady laughing! She is the humor-monger; they are the clowns. Today is Friday, 03 April 2020 and in one account ( Wikipedia ), Friday the 3 rd of April was crucifixion of Jesus and his crowning of thorns [1] . (images: Crown of Thorns [2]  from St Anthony Messenger , 1 st clown [3]  from The Guardian , 2 nd clown [4]  from Shutterstock ) About the living clowns I
Read more

“Natural Farming” – Aggie Journalists, We Must Be Careful With The Terms We Use!

Image
Look at the contrasting images: Which one is correct in claiming what is being practiced is “natural farming”? Top Image: This one accompanies the Anonymous WWF-Philippines story, “Mindanao Farmers Start Off the Year with Natural Farming Systems Technology” published online December 2019 [1] . The World Wide Fund, WWF, is a very credible international source of knowledge on conservation, right? Not this time. Very clearly, you can see the white plastic mulch covering the furrows and bare soil in-between them. Mr or Ms Anonymous, the plastic mulch is not natural. The soil not covered in-between furrows is not natural. So much soil bare, not natural, allowing so much natural water wasted because it had evaporated from the unprotected, hot soil surface! That is not conservation; that is not natural. The term “natural” is used here very carelessly . Aggie journalists, wake up! How come I noticed all that immediately when I saw the photograph? Because I learned my organic farming more t
Read more