BFAR’s Panatag visit to give fishers livelihood

MANILA, Philippines —  The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will visit Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal as part of continuing government efforts to provide livelihood assistance to fisherfolk in the West Philippine Sea, the agency’s spokesman said.

“This year, we will have additional floating assets for the West Philippine Sea and if I am not mistaken, we are scheduled to have another voyage in Scarborough Shoal. There will be onboard livelihood training for fishermen,” Nazario Briguera said during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing yesterday.

Briguera said at least P80-million initial funding was released during the expedition of BRP Francisco Dagohoy to Pag-asa Island on June 12, 2023 wherein various assistance were given to residents and fisherfolk.

The visit coincided with the Philippines’ celebration of its 125th Independence Day anniversary.

“The LAYAG-WPS or Livelihood Activities to Enhance Fisheries Yields and Economic Gains from the West Philippine Sea program was launched last year. We had a soft launch last June 12, where we traveled to Pag-asa Island to broaden the livelihood opportunities and productivity of fishers in the West Philippine Sea, where we have an initial funding of P80 million,” he said.

Briguera added that there are at least 385,000 fisherfolk around the West Philippine Sea.

He said fishery production in the West Philippine Sea has dropped by seven percent between 2021 and 2022 despite being one of the richest fishing grounds in the archipelago.

He noted that based on Philippine Statistics Authority data, production was down to 275,872 metric tons of fish in 2022, from 295,332 MT the previous year.