Overview
To strengthen enforcement and the protection of the 15-kilometer municipal waters for municipal fishers, Oceana also advocates for the transparent sharing of vessel monitoring data. This initiative builds on over a decade of work to protect coastal habitats, improve fisheries management and support fisherfolk rights and livelihood. Following a successful push for stricter vessel monitoring rules and achieving 90% compliance, Oceana now calls DA-BFAR to ask: Share data with authorized agencies such as the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, Protected Area Offices, and LGUs within marine protected areas (MPAs).
Background
One of Oceana’s objectives since we began campaigns in the Philippines more than 10 years ago has been to ensure enforcement of the national law giving small-scale fishers exclusive access to the coastal zone up to 9 miles (15 kilometers) offshore. Doing so (a) protects this productive and important habitat by ensuring that lower-impact gear is used; (b) facilitates better fisheries management by allowing coastal municipalities to set and enforce strong management measures and reap the benefits; and (c) improves the livelihoods of coastal communities.
Our ultimate goal is to reduce illegal fishing by commercial fishing vessels, helping to preserve Filipino marine resources for local residents and to stop commercial fishing in municipal waters that are reserved for small- scale fishers and help ensure compliance with Marine Protected Area restrictions which ban commercial fishing.
Strong enforcement action against illegal commercial fishing in municipal waters is necessary, especially since both commercial and municipal fisheries production have declined in the past 10 years. Appropriate use of technology, such as vessel monitoring measures, effective enforcement, and requiring compliance by national and local authorities and commercial fishing operators are needed to ensure the sustainable management of fisheries resources in the Philippines.
On October 12, 2020, the Department of Agriculture issued the rules on vessel monitoring measures for all commercial fishing vessels through Fisheries Administrative Order No. 266. After continuous pressure by Oceana and its allies for its full implementation, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a memorandum directing the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to implement vessel monitoring rules by installing devices to track location, speed, and catch in all commercial fishing vessels greater than 3.1 GT in the country. As of date, over 90% of the commercial fishing fleet have installed tracking devices.
This is a victory that will facilitate strict monitoring, control, and surveillance and will deter commercial fishing inside the 15-kilometer municipal waters and strengthen enforcement within marine protected areas.
Where are we now?
While over 90% of commercial fishing vessels have installed transponders, the effectiveness of vessel monitoring measures (VMM) hinges not only on installation but also on transparent and timely data sharing. Without accessible VMM data, authorities are unable to respond swiftly to violations as they occur.
What Needs to Happen
- DA-BFAR: Share the VMM data to enforcers, protected areas, and LGUs—transparency is key.
- Enforcement Agencies, PASU, BMB: Ask for the data—use it to address illegal fishing activities, destruction of marine resources.
- Fisherfolk: Speak up and call government agencies to task—your livelihood depends on it.
- Everyone: Help protect our oceans and our fisherfolk. Stay informed. Stay involved.
