THE Philippine fish catch is declining by an average of 45,000 metric tons (MT) each year due to overfishing, illegal fishing, and weak enforcement of fisheries law, according to Oceana Philippines.

In a report, Oceana Philippines said capture fisheries production fell from 2.6 million MT in 2010 to about 1.9 million MT in 2023, representing an annual loss of 45,472 MT.

“Our fisheries are not just declining, they are in freefall. We’ve lost nearly 600,000 MT of potential catch in just over a decade. That’s enough fish to provide a healthy meal to every Filipino for a month,” Von Glenn S. Hernandez, vice-president of Oceana Philippines, said at the report’s launch on Monday.

The report found that 88% of assessed fish stocks are being harvested faster than they can recover, indicating severe exploitation across most commercially important species.

“Some evidence suggests localized stock recovery in areas such as the Davao Gulf and Zamboanga Peninsula. However, scientific data show many fish populations remain overfished even after years of seasonal closures,” the report said.

The continued depletion of fish stocks poses a serious threat to national food security, the report said. Fish account for 11.7% of the country’s total food requirement.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing also resulted in an estimated P5.4 billion in losses from 2022 to 2023, which the organization described as economic value “stolen from the sector.”

The group said unregulated fishing and declining fish stocks are exacerbating poverty in coastal communities. In 2023, an estimated 353,000 fisherfolk families were living below the poverty line, including about 93,000 families classified as food-poor or unable to afford basic food needs.

Oceana urged the government to take immediate action by strengthening enforcement of Republic Act (RA) No. 10654, or the amended Philippine Fisheries Code, to curb illegal fishing and ensure the long-term sustainability of the country’s fisheries.

Under the amended Fisheries Code, only municipal fisherfolk — those operating boats weighing less than 3.1 gross tons and employing non-destructive, passive fishing practices such as hook-and-line and gill nets — are allowed to fish within municipal waters. These waters extend up to 15 kilometers from the coastline, including offshore islands.

However, Oceana said only 51% of coastal local government units (LGUs) have complete municipal water delineation.

Data cited in the report also showed that more than 270,000 cases of “apparent intrusions” by commercial fishing vessels into municipal waters were recorded between January 2017 and January 2024.

While Fisheries Administrative Order No. 266 was issued in 2020 to require vessel monitoring measures (VMM) for commercial fishing vessels, Oceana said enforcement gaps have allowed unchecked operations and unverified catch reports to persist.

“The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has not fully utilized the system despite about 90% of commercial vessels (being equipped) with VMM devices as of 2024,” the report said.

Section 18 of the Fisheries Code allows commercial fishing within the 10.1- to 15-kilometer zone of municipal waters, subject to strict conditions, including certification from the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority and the conduct of public hearings.

However, Oceana noted that only one of the 174 coastal LGUs authorizing commercial fishing in municipal waters has complied with all required conditions.

The report also cited staffing and budget constraints at BFAR, noting a 28% drop in personnel from 2017 to 2023, with about 68% of current staff employed on a contractual basis. BFAR also receives only 6% to 15% of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) budget.

“The challenge is so big relative to the resources available. These declines (in staff and resources) happened despite the expanded mandate of BFAR under RA 10654,” according to Alice Joan G. Ferrer, executive director of Too Big to Ignore Philippines and one of the report’s authors, said at the launch.

Oceana called on the government to strengthen enforcement in hotspot areas, expand BFAR’s workforce and budget, resolve legal impediments to vessel monitoring, and complete municipal water delineation, prioritizing regions with high intrusion rates.

“We will be sharing the report and our demands with the DA and BFAR. The fisheries crisis has been happening under the radar. Hopefully, they take notice and respond with urgency,” Mr. Hernandez told reporters. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel