By CESAR JOLITO III
Several fisherfolk organizations in the Visayas have intensified their campaign against illegal fishing, warning that the continued degradation of marine resources is worsening poverty among small-scale fishers and threatening coastal ecosystems.
The Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) – Negros and the Panay-Negros-Guimaras Crab Fishers Alliance (PANEG-CA) launched a series of advocacy and media activities this May in line with the observance of the Month of the Ocean and the upcoming Fisherfolk Day on Sunday, May 31.
PANEG-CA, described as one of the largest fisherfolk networks in the Visayas with more than 100 people’s organizations across three provinces, has issued resolutions calling for stronger action against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, as well as opposition to coastal and offshore mining activities.
The alliance is also pushing reforms in Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Councils, which serve as official consultative bodies for fisheries governance.
Fisherfolk leaders raise concerns over what they described as weak enforcement against illegal fishing operations and environmental threats affecting municipal waters.
They urged the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and local government units to strictly enforce fisheries laws and strengthen protection for coastal and marine ecosystems.
A key development in the campaign was a joint advocacy mission by PANEG-CA and PRRM under the OCEAN Project on May 19, where representatives met with officials of the newly created BFAR in Negros Island Region (NIR), headed by officer-in-charge Regional Director Rene Parreño.
During the dialogue, the groups submitted a 12-point Democratic and Green Reform Agenda outlining their recommendations on fisheries governance and environmental protection.
Among the issues raised were the alleged entry of commercial fishing vessels into the 15-kilometer municipal waters reserved for small fishers, the need for fisherfolk settlement programs, disaster assistance for fishing communities, and updated local fisheries plans, budgets and ordinances.
PANEG-CA chairperson and Manapla fisherfolk leader Gerry Bedoya said the meeting with BFAR-NIR officials was productive and gave the alliance hope that their concerns would receive attention.
Meanwhile, fisherfolk group leader Nelpa Lobaton from Negros Occidental’s Sagay City stressed the need for urgent government intervention to address worsening poverty in coastal communities, which she linked to illegal fishing, climate change and mining activities along coastal areas.
The groups cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing that small fishers remain among the poorest sectors in the country, with a poverty incidence of 30.6 percent in 2021, higher than the national average./CJ, WDJ