Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources(BFAR)

January 22, 2019 Dear Rhoma Raine, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated Oct 13, 2018 01:16:18 AM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. Your Request You asked for PH Fishing Industry Performance and Sustainable Fishing Guidelines. Response to Request This is to formally acknowledge your request for information from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. We would like to apologize for not promptly responding to your request.. This is due to some technical gaps we have encountered in securing access to the FOI portal. It is only now that we have been able to access the pending requests sent through the portal Please rest assured however that we have already initiated measures to address the cause of delay and improve further our services. With regards to your request, here are the following answers: 1. Guidelines, Rules and Regulations for Sustainable Fishing to protection The Bureau’s mandate to ensure sustainable fishing and protect marine biodiversity is rooted on the newly amended Philippine Fisheries Code RA 10654 and its implementing rules and regulations. For other related regulations kindly check our website’s section on Laws and Regulations here: https://www.bfar.da.gov.ph/lawAndRegulation.jsp 2. Current trends/findings in the marine ecosystem. The Philippine’s marine ecosystem sits in the Coral Triangle which has the richest marine life in the planet. The Philippine waters cover 220 million hectares, with the coral reef covering 26,000 sq. km valued at $915.85 B (P45.79 T). Its mangrove area covering 2,472 sq. km are valued at $47.92 B ( P2.40 T), seagrass covering 978 sq. km at $2.83 B (P0.14T) and continental shelf at $533.81 B (P26.69 T). This is according to Aranza et. al’s study Valuing and Managing the Philippines Marine Resources towards a Prosperous Ocean Based Blue Economy (2017). Kindly see attached study. 3. Data on Marine Destruction/Water Pollution (or destructive changes in the Marine Ecosystem for the past years). Yearly, the Philippine marine ecosystem loses to about $ 0.189 B (P9.45 B) on overfishing. For blast fishing, $ 99.220 B (P 4.961 T); For environmental damages $ 0.109 B (P4.8 B); For Poaching, $1.22 B (P 61.15 B) and for postharvest losses, $1.146 B (P 57 B). For more detailed discussion, you can refer to Aranza et. al’s study Valuing and Managing the Philippines Marine Resources towards a Prosperous Ocean Based Blue Economy (2017). Kindly check this link https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318685713_Valuing_and_Managing_the_Philippines'_Marine_Resources_toward_a_Prosperous_Ocean-Based_Blue_Economy 4. Philippines Economic performance through the fishing industry For the Philippines economic performance through the fishing industry, you download the latest Philippine Fisheries Profile 2017 here: https://www.bfar.da.gov.ph/publication Thank you! Respectfully, FOI Decision Maker FOI Receiving Officer