Oceana debunked BFAR’s claim that commercial fishers should be allowed to catch fish inside municipal waters
Press Release Date: December 9, 2025
“The government is contradicting its own study in saying our municipal waters should be open to commercial fishing operations. We are alarmed that current leaders of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) are purveying false information to our legislators and the public about the necessary measures to restore our rapidly depleting fisheries resources.”
This was the statement posed by international marine protection organization, Oceana as the group presented its position paper during the hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Aquaculture and Fisheries this week. The group countered the claim of BFAR Director Elizar Salilig who attended the hearing that “allowing commercial fishing within the 10-15 kilometer municipal water is science-based and aligned with the Fisheries Management Areas (FMA) . . .”
Last published data in 2017 on the National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) by the DA’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) indicated that about 90% of the country’s assessed 190 fish stocks, including top species, sardines and galunggong, are overfished. The same data1 show that most fishing grounds in the country are already overfished.
The group cited recent analyses of Fisheries Management Areas (FMAs), further confirming that key species have exceeded sustainable limits, highlighting the urgent need to protect municipal waters for long-term resource sustainability, food security, and livelihoods.
Oceana Senior Director for Campaigns and Legal and Policy, Atty. Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio cited these studies of the DA-NFRDI during the hearing.
“To uphold the people’s Constitutional rights to a healthful and balanced ecology and commitment to social justice, Oceana affirms the preferential right of small and subsistence municipal fishers to municipal waters, and the power of local governments to protect and enforce this right,” Osorio added.
Article XIII of the Constitution enjoins the State to protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local communities, to the preferential use of the communal marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore.2 This preferential treatment was declared as a state policy by Congress in the Philippine Fisheries Code, as amended, that seeks ‘to protect the rights of fisherfolk, especially of the local communities with priority to municipal fisherfolk, in the preferential use of the municipal waters.3
House Bill 2152 by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez amends Section 17 of RA 8550, as amended by RA 10654 (Philippine Fisheries Code), and proposes to give duly registered fisherfolk organizations/cooperatives exclusive rights in the 15-kilometer municipal water. Rodriguez also filed HB 2160 that introduced the 10-kilometer buffer zone in the municipal water that added safeguards to the illegal intrusion of commercial fishers inside municipal waters.
Oceana supports this proposal because it aligns with the precautionary approach to fisheries management and helps reduce the pressure of commercial fishing in municipal waters. In addition, it also establishes guidelines for allowing commercial fishing in this zone.
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co, ACT Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, and GABRIELA Women’s Partylist Sarah Elago filed House Bills 5606 and 5806, giving exclusive access to the 15 kilometer-municipal waters to the municipal fisherfolk. Mamamayang Liberal Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima also filed House Bill 5856 to establish the exclusive right of municipal fisherfolk within the 15-km municipal waters and prohibit commercial fishing within the same area.
Osorio explained during the hearing that these measures will reverse fisheries decline across the archipelago and alleviate the relentless pressure on our marine environment and the critical resources inside municipal waters. This direction will eventually ensure the recovery of Philippine fish stocks, thereby benefitting not only small fishers but commercial fishing operations as well, she added.
According to Oceana, allowing commercial fishers unimpeded access to municipal waters would lead to grave inequities in the management and use of the country’s fisheries and will likely exacerbate the overfishing and exploitation of critical habitats and breeding grounds inside municipal waters where many fish species reproduce and regenerate. (END)
Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one-quarter of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 325 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles, whales, and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit Oceana.org to learn more.
1Santos, M.D., Barut, N.C. and Bayate, A.D. (eds.). 2017. National Stock Assessment Program: The Philippine Capture Fisheries Atlas. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – National Fisheries Research and Development Institute. Quezon City, Philippines. 220 pages.
2Specifically, Section 7, Article XIII, 1987 Constitution.
3Section 2(d), Republic Act 8550, as amended by Republic Act 10654.
For More Information:
Joyce Sierra, Communications Manager, Oceana
Mobile: 09178214430 E-mail: jsierra@oceana.org
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