The Philippines is trying to reverse the loss of fish

MANILA – Dried fish for breakfast, fried in a crust with a hint of spice vinegar, fried rice with garlic and a flowing egg yolk, is the kind of breakfast that Filipinos wishing to live abroad love it.

The dish, often made from sardines, anchovies or rounds, uses dried seafood products that are a staple food in the Philippines, where they are cheap, widely available and local.

But a UN report released in March this year predicted that in 30 years, any commercial fishery in the Asia-Pacific region could cease if existing threats to the region's biodiversity are not addressed.

From plastic pollution to climate change, from overfishing to damage to coral reefs, one of the country's most valuable resources is under threat – and a growing number of Filipinos are trying to address the growing damage.

"Most issues related to food security and the depletion of marine resources prevent us from fully playing our role as responsible caretakers of our environment," said Rafael Dionisio, founder of The Circle Hostel, a chain of 39; environmentally friendly hostels that is spearheading a desire to reduce the use of plastic.

According to the Philippine Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the country produces more than 4.5 million tonnes of seafood and aquatic plants a year from its rivers, seas and lakes, making it the largest ninth world producer.

But the volume of fish caught has been declining since 2010.

"We need people to understand how our ecosystem works and how its health affects our fisheries," Dionisio said. "Once they've done, then we have a ball game."

PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats to the sustainability of marine life. The Philippines is now the third largest contributor to plastic pollution in the world's oceans, according to Greenpeace Philippines.

Other wastes also pose a threat. In April, Filipino officials ordered the closure of the island of Boracay, renowned for its white sand beaches, after discovering that most of the island's sewage was pouring directly into the sea.

The rapid decline of Philippine marine resources has raised concerns not only about future seafood supplies and the country's dried fish breakfast, but also about the communities that depend on fish to survive.

Data from the BFAR indicate that there are more than 1.6 million fishing operators in the Philippines, which have 105 million inhabitants. About 85% are artisanal fishermen, the rest are commercial vessels and aquaculture farms.

Dhang Tecson, co-founder of the social enterprise Fishers and Changemakers Inc. (FCI) who works with fishing families near the island of Cebu, said that years of unauthorized fishing practices – such as fishing with dynamite and fine net – were combined with climate change taken from small fishermen.

Large fishing companies operating near-shore fishing areas have also reduced the number of seafood products that can be harvested by smaller fishermen, pushing them further into the sea and more exposed to weather hazards.

Tecson said that as fishermen's incomes and food availability become more and more precarious, more people would resort to the means to support their families.

"The artisanal fishermen are currently working about 12 to 16 hours a day … They have absolutely no safety net," she said during a phone interview.

"Even if they do not want to fish illegally, many do not have a choice because of the current state of the country's waters."

Watch after lives

Tecson said the goal of his organization was to build sustainable fishing communities across the country and maintain Cebu's tradition of making dried seafood, a delicacy of the region.

However, to preserve their communities, islanders need to be informed about sustainable fishing methods that can be adapted to their region.

According to a study by Ateneo de Manila University, small-scale Filipino fishermen are mainly men, mostly of middle age and with little or no education.

Many fishing families live below the poverty line on isolated islands, accessible only by boat and where whole communities depend exclusively on fishing as a source of income.

Tecson said that historically, most efforts to improve livelihoods on the islands have been created for fishermen as "projects" to help communities.

Non-governmental organizations, for example, have built fishing cooperatives and donated facilities, such as warehouses for the processing and storage of dried fish.

But not everyone knew how to use the resources given to him.

For example, people in charge of managing their co-ops' money were sometimes not used to managing a budget, while women in communities, who were used to drying their catch in the sun, did not know how to use money. machines to do the work.

"There was virtually no training or follow-up," Tecson said.

Thus, in order to put in place more sustainable fishing methods – and a new approach to finding new sources of income for small-scale fishers – Tecson and his colleagues have created a range of dried seafood products called Balangay & # 39. Best in February 2017.

Through vocational training and financial literacy programs, they hoped to help fishermen and their families see the "real value" of their products and to see themselves as artisans who keep traditional foods alive, as well as partners in FCI's business.

"We have lived in their community to really understand their challenges," she said.

In collaboration with RARE Philippines, a branch of a global organization that supports coastal conservation, they have defined parameters for defining sustainable fisheries and are now collaborating with seven communities.

Participating fishermen had to be licensed and registered, co-manage the fishery themselves, use the correct fishing gear, and set their nets at specified times, places and seasons.

But even those who have adopted the new systems are facing another problem under the surface of the water: the coral dying.

According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, less than 30% of coral reefs are in good condition.

Sea-temperature hikes, driven by climate change, can cause corals to bleach or whiten, forcing fish to forage for food and shelter elsewhere.

"When the corals die, the fish move to deeper waters, which forces the fishermen (men) to follow them," said Dionisio, a passionate surfer.

In 2016, Dionisio started working on a "plastic solution", which encourages people to introduce plastic waste such as food packaging into used plastic bottles. The tightly stuffed bottles are then used as "ecobriques" to build hangars and other non-load structures.

He added that he hoped that such initiatives would lead people to change their behavior and take better care of the ocean.

"If the beach is not clean, nobody will want to play it," he said during a phone interview.

"All these oceans are connected, it's a global problem that we all have to look into."