26 for the conservation of fishery resources. Atty. Tanseco mentions that protecting fishery resources leads to lesser poverty “because we can ensure availability of fishery resources to our fisherfolks. 143 They have also released a memorandum circular 144 which aims to sustain the conservation of MPAs. The Adopt a Marine Protected Area (AMPA) project intends to promote marine conservation in support of the government’s mission to preserve the country’s natural wealth, as well as enjoin community involvement, compliance promotion, and enforcement. The project has strengthened the recruitment, organization, and mobilization of MPA guards who serve as force multipliers in the implementation of the project. 145 Consultations with Fisherfolks and Representatives of Fisherfolk Organizations Each cluster, with the exception of Mindanao,146 was divided into 6 groups which tackled questions based on their given thematic area of concern. The effect of the implementation of RA No. 8550 as amended by RA No. 10654, to their access to municipal waters and marine resources According to the participants, before the implementation of RA No. 8550, the law was supposed to arrest the increase of these unlawful methods,147 because there was a rise in illegal fishing activities in municipal waters.148 In fact in the 1990s, dynamite fishing was so prevalent that groups of dynamite fishers were organized. They reported that they had a hard time in curbing such illegal methods as most of these illegal fishers had political affiliation or were even operated by the politicians themselves. 149 Prior to the increase of illegal fishing activities, they reported that they could average a catch volume of 10-15 kilograms daily. But with the rise of unlawful methods, their catch volume dropped to 5 kilograms daily.150 In the municipalities of Obando and Bulakan, they attributed the decrease in catch volume due to the proliferation of fish pens. One study noted that wild fish stay near fish pens due to the presence of food. However, since these fish pens are privately owned, thus, artisanal fisherfolk could not go near these areas to catch the wild fish. 151 In the beginning of the implementation of RA No. 8550 in 1998, the participants noted a slight increase in the catch volume, going back to 10-15 kilograms daily, before receding to 5 kilograms.152 They attributed this to the poor implementation of RA No. 8550. The general observation was that the law was implemented well initially but was not sustained. Other issues that they brought up include: • Some municipalities could not properly install fish wardens153 (bantay-dagat) because of the small budget allocation; • When fish wardens report illegal fishers or commercial vessels entering municipal waters, they are being charged with piracy for boarding the erring vessels. If the violation is brought to courts, most 143 Consultations with NGAs, supra note 40 144 CMC no. 02-2013 or Adopt a Marine Protected Area which was followed by CMC no. 03-2013 or MG MPA Guards 145 Consultations with NGAs, supra note 40 146 Since Mindanao Cluster only had 3 representatives, they discussed all the thematic issues in plenary 147 Examples of such methods were “hulbot-hulbot”, “buli-buli”, “baling”, “liba-liba, “sud-sud”, cyanide, trawlers, among others. 148 Consultations with Fisherfolks through Online Video Conferencing (1, 5, and 6 October 2021) 149 Ibid. 150 Ibid. 151 Ibid. 152 Ibid. 153 Sec. 124 of the Fisheries Code allows the designation of competent individuals, who have undergone training in law enforcement, as deputy fish wardens or what is more commonly called as bantay-dagat.