DA rolling out 1-M fishing boats

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) will be distributing one million fishing boats  in the next five years to improve marine sufficiency.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol intends to provide 200,000 fiberglass boats yearly until 2020. Each boat costs P75,000.

Piñol has ordered the local government units to identify the families that have no fishing boats so they will be prioritized in line with efforts to increase the country’s fish catch.

“We will provide two families one fiberglass boat to share so they will also share the responsibility of taking care of it,” he said.

Under the new leadership and policy directions, the department intends to focus on food production and poverty alleviation, targeting to establish livelihood programs for the farming and fishing sectors.

The program aims to boost fish catch for the market and eventually increase food production to alleviate poverty.

Based on the latest government data, the fisheries sector reported a  six percent drop in output for the second quarter as lower production was noted across major fish species.

At current prices, the sector grossed P60.2 billion, down seven percent year on year.

The fisheries sector accounted for 18 percent of the total agricultural output for the period.

The distribution of boats is an existing project initiated by the previous administration in 2014 in response to Typhoon Yolanda.

So far, the DA has distributed boats in the provinces of Zambales and Davao while Bataan and Pangasinan are next in line.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources continued the enforcement of the three-month fishing closed season in municipal fishing grounds in all parts of the country.

During the closed season, BFAR will also implement livelihood programs for the affected fishermen including the clean up of the waters and the planting and rehabilitation of mangroves.