15,000 boats to be given to fishermen displaced by Yolanda

By: Nestor P. Burgos Jr. - 11 years ago

BENEFICIARIES, fishermen who lost their boats to Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” pose with the new boats they received under the Peter Project 2 program. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — At least 15,000 fishing boats are needed to replace those destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) 100 days after the cyclone devastated fishing communities in the Visayas, according to the head of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

In a media briefing, lawyer Asis Perez, BFAR national director, said the private donations and those given by BFAR and other government agencies reached about 15,000 fishing boats.

This is less than half of the 31,655 boats in four regions that were destroyed by the Super Typhoon on Nov. 8, 2014.

Earlier, 18,904 boats were reported destroyed by typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas, 9,744 in Western Visayas, 2,792 in Central Visayas and 215 in the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region.

Perez was here for the regional launching of BFAR’s Municipal Fisherfolk Registration program.

Perez said the supertyphoon affected 146,748 fisherfolks, including 76,854 in Western Visayas, 43,500 in Eastern Visayas, 24,651 in Central Visayas and 1,743 in Mimaropa region.

He said Yolanda has severely affected 21 of the 72 provinces with fishing communities.

The BFAR, in partnership with private groups and donors, raised a total of P4 million for 1,184 boats as of this month. Private donors also donated about 5,000 fishing boats directly to fisherfolks.

Lack of materials and fishing boat makers have delayed the donation of boats, according to Perez.

He said those who have received fishing boats from private donors would no longer be given boats by the government so as not to duplicate the assistance. But those lacking fishing gear and boat engines would still be given such tools and engines, Perez said.

The massive devastation in the fisheries sector resulted in a 10-percent drop in nationwide fish production and a 5 to 10-percent increase in prices especially in the first two months after Yolanda.

The prices of fish have started to normalize, Perez said.

The registration program aims to fast-track and complete registration of municipal fisherfolks and come up with national database for designing programs and assistance.

At least 488,032 fisherfolks have registered out of the more than a million fishermen in the country.

Those targeted to register are workers in fishing ports, crew of fishing boats and fish vendors.