3 I. CONTEXT OF THE REPORT According to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) National Director, 82 million Filipinos eat fish, and each of them needs at least 38 kilograms of fish a year. The Philippines is considered a significant fish producer. In 2012 alone, it had a total production of 3.1 million tons of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other aquatic animals. 2 The industry employs an estimated 1.5 million people, with fisheries dominating the number at 1 million employed.3 Despite this significant size and their contribution to the Philippine diet and food security, artisanal fisherfolk remain trapped in an intergenerational cycle of poverty. RA No. 8425 or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act defines artisanal fisherfolk as “municipal, small-scale, or subsistence fishermen who use fishing gear which do not require boats, or which only require boats less than three (3) tons.4 According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), they are the second poorest in the country with a poverty incidence rate of about 28% in 2018.5 In 2016, the concluding observations on the combined 5th and 6th periodic reports of the Philippines to the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights raised concerns on the plight of Filipino fisherfolk. It mentions the high occurrence of absolute poverty 6 among small-scale fishers as well as the threats to their livelihood due to declining fish stocks and intrusion of commercial fishing vessels in designated municipal waters.7 RA No. 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, as amended by RA No. 10654 defines municipal waters to include not only streams, lakes, inland bodies of water, and tidal waters within the municipality, but also marine waters 15 kilometers from the coastline. 8 Section 123 of the same law authorizes the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) to delineate municipal waters. 9 Delineation and demarcation of municipal waters are vital to the protection of the rights of the fisherfolk as they are given preferential use of the resources within these boundaries. 10 However, the law appears to be inconsistent as it allows small to medium commercial fishing vessels to operate within 10.1 to 15 kilometers, provided the depth is more than seven (7) fathoms. 11 In an interview with the Sectoral Representative for Artisanal Fisherfolk of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), he said that there is continued overexploitation of resources from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the unlawful entry of commercial vessels continue to limit the access of small-scale fishers to marine resources within municipal waters.12 Facing stiff competition from commercial fishing vessels, small-scale fisherfolk are forced to venture beyond the 15 kilometer-boundary to try and secure their catch. R.A. No. 1065413 or the act amending R.A. No. 8550 imposes stringent penalties if they get caught. Reclamation projects in coastal areas have also limited the access of small-scale fisherfolks to marine resources. The fisherfolk often lose access to valuable fishing grounds because of these projects. 2 Country Brief, May 2014 from www.fao.org/fishery/facp/PHL/en (last viewed 07/15/2021) 3 Ibid 4 “Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act” RA No. 8425, available from www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1997/ra_8425_1997.html 5 Farmers, Fisherfolks, Individuals Residing in Rural Areas and Children Posted the Highest Poverty Incidences Among the Basic Sectors in 2018, released June 2020, available from psa.gov.ph/poverty-press-releases/nid/162541 (last viewed 07/15/2021) 6 Concluding Observation no.45 from the combined 5th and 6th Periodic Report of the Philippines to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Available from www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Concluding-Observations-CESCR-Philippines-2016-eng.pdf (last viewed 08/09/2021) 7 Ibid 8 RA No. 8550 or The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, Available from www.bfar.da.gov.ph/bfar/download/ra8550/RA8550.pdf 9 Ibid. Sec. 123 10 Ibid. Sec. 2.d 11 Ibid. Sec. 18, Sec.18.a 12 Monitoring the Realization of the Right to Cultural Participation and Right to Social Security of Farmers/Fisherfolk and Indigenous Peoples of Region XI. May 2019 13 RA No. 10654, supra note 1