A DAY before the commemoration of World Fisheries Day, climate advocates stormed the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources office in Quezon City to denounce the policy of liberalization and free trade that could worsen the state of small local food producers.
Gerry Arances, national coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, spearheaded the rally Friday in front of BFAR to dramatize their opposition against policies removing subsidies for small local fisherfolk and promoting stricter, anti-poor policies on fishing.
“Among the most affected in the crisis of climate change are fishing communities whose sources of income are depleted due to storms and extreme heat brought about by the warming of the planet and the oceans,” he said.
“And yet, policies on the management of water resources, promoting biodiversity, adaptation and resiliency keep this sector—one of the poorest sectors in the country—away from the coastal areas which are their only source of livelihood.”
Arances cited the issuance of no-build zones in Typhoon “Yolanda” stricken areas in Eastern Visayas in November 2013 to displace fisherfolk and replace their settlements with commercial establishments.
“Removing artisanal fisherfolk from places where they fish is tantamount to condemning them to poverty and hunger. With 41 percent of fishing communities experiencing extreme hunger, it is unthinkable that the Aquino government’s policy of ‘building back better’ does not involve strengthening the livelihood of sectors relying on fishing for survival,” he lamented.
Val Vibal of Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, head of PMCJ’s adaptation working group, said the government’s free trade policies are incompatible with the “inclusive growth” for fishing and farming sectors as well as policies on protecting the environment and natural resources in the context of climate change.
“Promoting biodiversity in a changing climate should involve regulating big commercial fishing firms who thrive on overfishing, not denying small artisanal fisherfolk means for their substinance, Vibal’s statement read.
“The government’s stricter policies on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, primarily aimed at strengthening trade between the Philippines and the European Union, instead of creating an environment of sustainable fishing in coastal areas, has rid big companies with massive fishing capacity of competition from small fishing communities who can only fish at a rate enough for survival and income for their families.”
Meanwhile, Lidy Nacpil, PMCJ convenor, noted food sovereignty and protecting land, water and the commons is integral in addressing the issue of climate change.
“In the Philippines, six million people depend directly on the ocean’s resources for subsistence. And yet fish stocks worldwide are declining rapidly, owing to chronic overfishing by the commercial fishing industry, as well as carbon emissions from developed countries that have led to oceanic conditions hostile to marine life,” she stressed.