In a historic event for Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 11, eighty municipal fishers from the municipalities of Concepcion, Batad, and Carles in the Province of Iloilo gave up their municipal trawls (kuto-kuto) and Danish seine (hulbot-hulbot) in exchange for fish trap (bobo), bottom-set gill net (palubog), and bamboo crab pots (panggal) to legally fish in the waters of the Visayan Sea, part of FMA 11, on December 22 to 23, 2021, 

The first project of its kind in the country, gear swapping or exchanging illegal gears with legal ones is part of FMA 11’s identified key management actions to eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing piloting in hotspot areas in Northern Iloilo.  

Fishers expressed their commitment to protect the seas by signing a pledge of commitment not to go back to trawl and Danish seine fishing and using only non-destructive gears to conserve the marine habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests.

Each of the former trawl fishers received one set of materials for fish trap from including one paldo of mesh net, two kilograms of copper nails, 30 pieces of bamboo, 2 kilograms of nylon monoline, two rolls of rope, and one roll of plastic screen from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Regional Office VI (BFAR 6).

“𝘋𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘺𝘰 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘨-𝘰 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺𝘢. 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘢𝘺𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘺𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘺𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯,” said Mr. Junic Edma, 52, one of the beneficiaries of the project, during his interview. 

In her message, Ms. Felina Grace Basco, Iloilo Provincial Fisheries Coordinator, said that the LGU Concepcion’s commitment through it fishers who turned their back to trawl fishing is the best gift it can possibly give to the Visayan Sea. 

Batad, Iloilo

In Batad, Iloilo, three brave municipal fishers of Barangay Tanao swapped their trawls and Danish seine to be proud owners of legal and passive gears - bottom-set gill nets (palubog) and bamboo crab pots (panggal). 

“𝘓𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦. 𝘒𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨-𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘪 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘢 𝘬𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘴, 𝘯𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘢-𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨-𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘢. 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘮𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘴, 𝘵𝘪 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘨 𝘦,” said Nilo Dadivas, one of the beneficiaries, recalling the abundance of the Visayan Sea in the past. 

One of the three fishers will receive one set of materials for bottom-set gill net including five sets of floats, nine pieces lead sinkers, five 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘰 of mesh net, and sets of three type of monofilament nylon, while the other two fishers will get sets of materials for bamboo crab pots such as 200 pieces 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘭 two rolls of no. 8 PE rope and 6 rolls of no. 6 PE rope from BFAR 6.

Twenty three out of 27 fishers will receive one set of materials for bottom-set gill net including five sets of floats, nine pieces lead sinkers, five 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘰 of mesh net, and sets of three type of monofilament nylon, while the other four fishers will get sets of materials for bamboo crab pots such as 200 pieces 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘭 two rolls of no. 8 PE rope and 6 rolls of no. 6 PE rope from BFAR 6. 

“𝘎𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘸𝘰 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘬𝘵𝘰. 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘴𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘶𝘭𝘣𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨,” said Mr. Jay Palma, former trawl fisher and beneficiary of the gear swap, during his interview. 

Ms. Sobrevega, during the turn-over of the gears, emphasized the important role of the community in fisheries management saying that mothers, the youth, workers, and especially fishers can help protect and conserve the Visayan Sea in their own ways.

There is overwhelming scientific evidence that bottom trawling causes terrible damage to seafloor ecosystems and even more terrible damage to the fragile and slow growing ecosystems of the deep sea. 

Trawl, which is an active gear, is prohibited from operating inside the municipal waters under section 95 of Republic Act 10654, An act to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Republic Act no. 8550, otherwise known as "The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998," and for other purposes. 

On the other hand, Fisheries Administrative Order No. 246 – 1 bans the operation of Danish Seine and Modified Danish Seine in Philippine waters as there is overwhelming scientific evidence that Danish seine causes terrible damage to seafloor ecosystems.

The project is also part of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Regional Office VI’s (BFAR 6) implementation of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Department of Agriculture –BFAR Joint Memorandum Circular 2018 – 03 on the Guidelines on Strengthening the Implementation of the Ban on Bottom Trawl Operations within Municipal Waters.

BFAR 6, as the head region for FMA 11, is keen on its duty to spearhead the implementation of projects that not only safeguard the well-being of the environment but also protects the well-being of its clients, the fisherfolk.