BFAR solving 15-year backlog in fishers’ registry

Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Asis Perez

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has revived the establishment of municipal registries for fishermen, which many local governments failed to put up in the last 15 years as prescribed by a 1998 law.

The registries were designed to bring more government services to coastal communities.

The National Municipal Fisherfolk Registration Program, now ongoing in seven regions, was initiated in Central Luzon on Thursday. Section 19 of the Philippine Fisheries Code (Republic Act No, 8550) requires towns to build their registries.

But some local governments have not seen it as a priority, BFAR Director Asis Perez said.

He said an updated and complete registry would allow the national government to make “targeted interventions” among the poor.

BFAR is spending P50 million to finish a national registry.

According to Perez, the fisheries database has been enriched by the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture started by the Department of Budget and Management.

The registry will help design programs that will aid towns in managing, regulating, conserving and protecting fishery resources and establishing a comprehensive fishery information system, said Remedios Ongtangco, BFAR director for Central Luzon.

Around 100,000 fishermen are targeted to be registered in the region, Ongtangco said.

Aurora, a province facing the Pacific Ocean, has a preliminary list of fishermen, according to Victoriano San Pedro, provincial fisheries and aquatic resources officer. Currently enlisted there are 2,736  fishermen, 1,360 registered motorized bancas and 651 non-motorized ones.

Pedro Calivara, a leader of fishermen in Casiguran, Aurora, said he appreciated the registry because it could help specify the conditions and needs of a certain area.

At least 312 fishing boats in Casiguran were destroyed at the height of Typhoon “Maring” two weeks ago.

In his latest State of the Nation Address, President Aquino said the government is “now steering our fishermen towards more productive waters.”

“Think about it: our fishing industry contributed P193.65 billion to our economy in 2012. In spite of this, based on a study conducted in 2009, 41 percent of our fisherfolk still live below the poverty line. They are the ones who catch the fish, but all they have on their dinner tables are fish bones,” he said.