Fisherfolk, Oceana Decry the Omission of the Fisheries Crisis in the State of the Nation Address: Challenge Marcos to Defend 15-kM Waters
Press Release Date:
Municipal fisherfolk delivered a kontra-SONA (Counter-SONA) on Tuesday, a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) made no mention of the crisis facing the country’s small-scale fishing sector.
The small-scale fishers decried how Marcos touted the distribution of ayuda (aid) during the oil crisis as significant support to fisherfolk, when the sector has been clamoring for better enforcement of the 15-kilometer municipal waters, legally reserved for small-scale fisherfolk but has been constantly encroached upon by commercial fishing vessels.
“Kay Pangulong Marcos: hindi kami humihingi ng ayuda,” said Eduardo Diaz, chairman of Ugnayan ng Maliliit na Mangingisda (UMALMA) in Tayabas Bay. “Humihingi kami ng assurance na sa dami ng krisis sa pangisdaan, huwag kami mapag-iwanan.”
The forum, organized by marine conservation group Oceana with fisherfolk leaders, scientists, youth advocates, legislators and local government officials, challenged the President to side with municipal fishers instead of commercial interests in the 15-kilometer zone.
Von Hernandez, Oceana Vice President, described the SONA’s prescription of ayuda as a false solution, when the President instead should be restoring the health and sustainability of fisheries in Philippine fish stocks that are now 88 percent overfished.
Empty nets and broken promises – a sector made perpetually dependent on ayuda, dole-outs instead of dignity is how Hernandez described the SONA. “Ayudang kapos at hikahos sa dignidad (Dole outs that are never enough and deprived of dignity). This fisheries sector is propped up only by subsidies, while profits flow to commercial fishers because they continue to exploit fish inside municipal waters due to systemic failure in governance. And this same regulatory absence will now favor aquaculture operators at the expense of small-scale fisherfolk who will be displaced in their near-shore fishing ground in favor of fish cages and mariculture farms,” Hernandez added.
Participants at the event challenged Marcos to answer this question: Ang pangakong kinse ba ay para sa municipal na mangingisda o para sa negosyante? Are the 15 kilometers promised to municipal fishers still theirs or do they now belong to commercial interests?
The call comes amid a run of pronouncements by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) on progress in fisheries, all apparently leaning toward heavier production and extraction instead of the replenishment of fish stocks and the protection of municipal fishers’ rights. These includes new ice plants and fish-port expansions, a Danish midwater-trawl partnership, and an aquaculture drive rebranded as food security, Oceana calls these the wrong solutions to the actual problem: cold storage and export markets cannot restock a sea that is being emptied.
“Taon-taon, hindi binabanggit sa SONA ang dagat na pumapalibot at nagpapakain sa atin. Kaya isang araw pagkatapos nito, ang mga mangingisda na ang nagkuwento,” said Atty. Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, Oceana Senior Director for Campaigns, Legal, and Policy. “The 52 percent gain from aquaculture applauded by the BFAR is actually a consequence of a decade-long collapse in capture fisheries. You cannot fill an ice plant with fish that are no longer there. So we ask: para sa mangingisda ba itong ginagawa ng gobyerno, o para sa negosyante?”
Oceana believes this shift in aquaculture while promoting midwater trawling confuses the problem and diverts attention to a “solution” that may even create more problems in the future. “The primary threats to our municipal waters are still present and, in some cases, worsening. Small fishers continue to face intense competition from commercial fishers encroaching on the 15-kilometer municipal zone—a key reason for fish depletion,” said Hernandez.
Oceana’s 2026 Net Loss audit report found the country losing an average of 45 million kilos of fish each year, with capture fisheries falling from 2.6 million metric tons in 2010 to 1.9 million in 2023, Fisherfolk families living below the poverty line rose to 353,190 in 2023; 93,030 of whom could not reliably put food on the table.
“The President named poverty alleviation and food security as his priorities when he was voted into office but you cannot claim either while ignoring a fisheries crisis that keeps millions of fisherfolk among the poorest Filipinos,” said Hernandez. “We are not just losing fish; we are losing artisanal fishers, and their legacy of sustainable fishing. The pivot to aquaculture itself is an admission that the government has failed to reverse the collapse of capture fisheries. What our oceans need is an honest roadmap to recovery: enforce the 15-kilometer zone, not more schemes to legalize the plunder of waters that belong to small fishers.” (END)
Oceana is the largest international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Our mission is to rebuild abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies that stop overfishing, protect habitats and threatened species, curb oil and plastic pollution, and increase transparency at sea. With more than 350 victories, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results – for the oceans, for coastal communities, and for the planet. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy, climate-smart seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Join us at Oceana.org.
For More Information:
Joyce Sierra, Communications Manager, Oceana
Mobile: 09178214430 E-mail: jsierra@oceana.org
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