A fitting Future for Fisheries Management Area 11
| by RJ Senangote
| December 7, 2021
Armed with passion, goodness, and sense of service, stakeholders of Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 11 are in it to craft a participatory, science-based, and sustainable plan for both humans and animals on land and lives below water in the Visayan Sea, Guimaras Strait, and Tañon Strait which we collectively call FMA 11.
More than 80 participants representing the fisheries sectors including municipal fishing, commercial fishing, aquaculture, processors, traders, and market organizers, academe, local, provincial, and national government, and civil society organization from the provinces of Capiz, Cebu, Guimaras, Iloilo, Masbate, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental came together for the FMA 11 Planning workshop held virtually via Zoom on December 6 and 7, 2021.
“FMA 11 is not starting from scratch in formulating our FMA Plan as we are building from our initiatives in the Visayan Sea as well as building from the plans of LGU alliances and NIPAS sites in our FMA,” said RD Remia A. Aparri in her opening message.
During the two-day workshop, available FMA 11 data were presented, the FMA 11 Framework Plan was drafted, and next steps on consolidation and validation were agreed on by the participants.
“We should use all data presented and take into account the suggested management actions of our stakeholders on the issues of declining fish catch, Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, capacity development on fishery law enforcement, alternative livelihood, and FMA institutions. It will now be the task of the TWG to refine the plan we have agreed on,” said RD Aparri as she urged the participants, secretariat, and Technical Working Group (TWG) to continuously work on developing the FMA plan.
As a result of the workshop, FMA 11 was able to come up with its Vision, Goal, Objectives, and specific management actions to answer the five priority issues identified by stakeholders which shall be dealt with at the FMA level as RD Aparri mentioned in her message.
The workshop was made possible through our collaboration with BFAR – USAID Fish Right, BFAR Central Office, BFAR Region 5, and BFAR Region 7 as well as the active participation of the FMA 11 Management Board, Scientific Advisory Group, Technical Working Group, Provincial and Municipal Local Government Units, and the fisheries sector representatives.
As the stakeholders have agreed on during the workshop, a science-based, participatory, and sustainable future is indeed the fitting future for FMA 11!