By Manny Piñol
The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (DA-ACPC) has been directed to allocate P50-M in livelihood loan funds to support fisherfolk and fishing industry stakeholders during the 3-Month Closed Fishing Season in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
The loan fund, which will be granted under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) program which is also available to land-based agriculture stakeholders, was committed during my recent visit to Zamboanga City to mark the opening of the 7th Sardines Open Fishing Season following a 3-month ban on fishing.
Initiated by local stakeholders in 2011 and later supported by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) through the passage of an Administrative Circular, the 3-month Closed Fishing Season is one of the most successful stories of conservation and protection of marine resources for sustainable fishing.
Starting December of every year up to the last day of February of the following year, fisheries stakeholders have voluntarily ceased fishing operations for the last seven years to allow the species Sardinella Lemuru, locally known as “Tamban” to breed and spawn.
In several areas of the Peninsula, local government units implemented the more stringent “Market Deprivation Strategy” by passing ordinances which prohibits the sale of “Tamban” in the market during the off-fishing season.
As a result of the effort, the catch of “Tamban” increased from 143,060 metric tons in 2016 to 152,283 metric tons in 2017.
The closed fishing season did not only result in higher sardine population but also increased the sightings and catch of big and high-value fish species that feed on sardines.
Since the start of the closed fishing season, the once rare big fish species—Tuna, Tangigue, Salay-Salay Ginto [scad]—are gradually coming back to the point that even the people in General Santos City are getting their tuna supply from Zamboanga Peninsula, Ed Lim, head of one of the biggest sardines manufacturing companies based in Zamboanga City said.
The abundant sardines catch has resulted in the sprouting of 11 Fish Canning facilities in the city which now employs over 50,000 people, including those who man the fishing boats which operate nine months a year.
It has now grown into a P20-B industry which exports canned and bottled sardines to many countries in the world, including Europe.
The reinvigorated fishing industry in the Peninsula has also resulted in the reduction of the poverty incidence among fisherfolk families in Zamboanga City from over 40% to 34% in just seven years.
The sustainability of the program, however, is challenged by the need to provide stakeholders, including fishermen and sardines factory workers, with alternative livelihood during the off-fishing season.
On March 1, on the first day of the 9-Month Sardines Fishing Season which will last until the end of November this year, I declared during the consultations with industry stakeholders that the DA-ACPC will open a loan window to support the Zamboanga Tamban Conservation Program.
Proposed livelihood programs include Mangrove Nursery Operations, broiler chicken and egg production and other income-generating projects.
This loan fund will be made available as soon as all the stakeholders have undergone an orientation workshop on the PLEA program and given identification cards which they could use in apply for the loans.
(Photos by DA-AFID Biyaheng Bukid team, Mayette Tudlas and Bong Piñol, OSEC)
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