Sea of Change: Teaching fishers to conserve and protect

MANILA, Philippines - For the past decades, the Philippines’ marine treasures have constantly been under threat, often from the same people whose livelihoods depend on them. Overfishing and destructive behavior by fishers continue to be cited as leading causes of the ocean’s decreasing yield, and it is Rare Philippines’ mission to change the way fishers act towards their main source of income and food.

In about 850 coastal municipalities in the country, more than 1.6 million people earn a living from the seas, and 85 percent of them or 1.1 million are near-shore fishers. Factoring in their families, this means that around 5 million people depend on fish caught in municipal waters for their income and food, and are affected by flux or adverse changes in harvest. Further down the supply chain, it also affects almost 60 million people, or 56 percent of Filipinos, who get their protein from fish.

Yet, the amount of fish caught in our oceans has been rapidly declining since the 1950’s. Fishers have needed to use more sophisticated technology and exert more effort in order to catch similar or declining amounts, just to keep up with the demands of a growing population and its ever-changing consumption patterns. In many areas, this has also given rise to illegal practices, like the use of dynamite and cyanide, or the use of fishing gear that is considered unsustainable because they catch fish that are too small or fish that would just be considered by-catch.

So, how do you convert fishers from being the cause of the problem to being the solution? This is what Rare set out to do in the Philippines. A global organization that has worked in almost 60 countries, Rare differentiates itself from other conservation efforts by focusing on changing people’s behavior. By helping fishers understand how they fit and contribute to the bigger picture, Rare believes they can be convinced to stop destructive or illegal practices and get involved in the protection of the seas to make it more beneficial for them.

“There are many types of behavior changes needed in a community, and we help the partners running a campaign figure out what they should focus on,” says Rocky Sanchez Tirona, head of Rare in the Philippines.

First, Rare seeks local organizations or government units to partner with, who in turn, nominate a conservation fellow from their staff to implement programs. After a rigorous application process, selected Rare conservation fellows are selected and trained over two or three years to develop and implement what is known globally as a Pride campaign. In the process, the conservation fellow also earns a Master’s degree in Social Marketing from the University of Texas in El Paso.

Pride campaigns are Rare’s signature approach to community engagement. The series of activities inspire people to take pride in their way of life and the local waters that make their communities unique, while also giving them the tools they need to preserve their fisheries. It involves surveying the community’s challenges and areas of improvement relevant to fishing, understanding their target audiences and the people around them, creating campaign materials that promote desired behaviors, and organizing community-wide activities that get fishers and their families excited and supportive of these behaviors so that they become the social norm.

Rare has run over 250 Pride campaigns in almost 60 countries. Locally, Rare has worked with local governments and non-profit partners in Surigao del Sur, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Davao, Cebu, Southern Leyte, and Camarines Sur.

The second batch of conservation fellows, whose work spans from 2012 to the present, is about to graduate. They have been working in 13 areas in Zamboanga Sibugay, Surigao del Sur, Davao, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, and Camarines Sur.

A new batch of conservation fellows are about to be selected for Rare’s third cohort in the Philippines. They will be implementing Fish Forever, a global partnership between Rare, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the University of California in Santa Barbara, which aims to build off the success of marine protected areas and provide fishers with greater incentives to manage their fisheries better. Through the Pride approach, more fishers and communities are about to discover that it’s possible to inspire change so both nature and people thrive.

For more information, visit www.rare.org/program-sustainable-fishing-philippines.