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Small fisherfolk call attention to plight

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• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO

Members of the Negros Occidental Federation of Small Fisherfolk Associations (NOFSFA) will be celebrating the National Fisherfolk Day at the Provincial Capitol grounds on May 29 to call on the government to address several issues affecting small fisherfolk in the province.

NOFSFA, composed of more than 80 member organizations in Negros Occidental, was founded in 2021 with the support of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement – Negros (PRRM-Negros).

Edwin Balajadia, PRRM-Negros area manager, said that among the major problems affecting fisherfolk are illegal fishing which destroy the environment, illegal marine mining in coastal areas, black sand mining, climate change, among others.

Balajadia said illegal/unregulated fishing can lead to other problems like depletion of fishes, and disappearance of crabs (especially blue swimming crabs).

Data shows that the poorest sector in the Philippines are small fisherfolk – they have no permanent income, and have no voice especially in the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (FARM-C). Its either that the FARM-C does not function or is not active, he said.

Balajadia said they pushing for the localization of national management plan for crabs. They are also calling on the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to improve their services to small fisherfolk.

In a joint statement, NOFSFA and PRRM- Negros are urgjng the BFAR, the provincial government and coastal local government units (LGUs) to intensify efforts to curb illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and the continuous taking of berried and juvenile blue swimming crabs (BSC).

They are also urging BFAR, the LGUs, and appropriate national agencies to strengthen their disaster relief and poverty alleviation programs for small fishers and other poor sectors in Negros, as well as undertake climate adaptive measures and conduct comprehensive implementation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Law or RA 10121.

They are voicing out their protest and opposition against massive yet illegal black sand mining in many areas of the province given its adverse effects to the coastal and marine environment, threat of social dislocation, and threat to the health and safety of poor coastal communities.

They are also calling on the BFAR, provincial government, coastal LGUs to strengthen efforts to update and align local ordinances with RA 8550 and RA 10654, and craft local coastal resource management plans.

NOFSFA and PRRM-Negros are also urging the national government and LGUs to increase the budgets for fisheries and build/strengthen small fishers and civil society participation in local fisheries governance through the FARMC, and for the Marcos administration to establish a Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DOFAR) so that fisheries and small fishers could be given greater attention and support towards authentic sustainable development.*

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