Fishermen in the Philippines still damaging marine ecosystem

Fishermen in the Philippines are still overfishing the sea areas around the island country, damaging the marine ecosystem, which in turn is threatening their own survival.

Conservation group Oceana said more than 75 percent of the nation's fishing grounds are depleted.

A report from the Associated Press in April 2023 blamed the overfishing problem on years of market pressures, a lack of fisheries management and unchecked overfishing by larger commercial fishers.

They also said the country's poorest people are affected most by the depleting fishing grounds, as the fish are their main source of protein.

"It is threatening the local food source. We can't feed our family. And it's worsening poverty of artisanal fishers," said Ruperto Aleroza, an anti-poverty activist. "The overfishing worsens economic depression among us."

What's worse, as the number of small fish goes down, the larger fish also suffer because there's less food available. The marine ecosystem is slowly collapsing as the food chains break down.

The pearl fever

Back in 2016, global media learned that there's a 34 kilogram "pearl" in the Philippines, which was considered the world's largest pearl at the time.

Though many experts have made it clear that the apparent pearl is in fact a part of the shell of a giant clam, many local fishermen like to catch the giant clams in the hope of finding a giant natural pearl.

As it turns out, the clams are a type of Tridacnidae that is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which the Philippines signed back in the 1980s.

Saving the ecosystem

The government of the Philippines has taken various measures to address overfishing.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., president of the country, said in September 2023 that the government is considering a fishing ban in certain areas, giving the fish time to breed and propagate.

International organizations like the United Nations Development Program are also helping the country restore the marine ecosystem.

Non-governmental organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund are trying to help fishermen adopt sustainable fishing practices.

But local media reports said more work should be done to turn things around, as the implementation of those measures is delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and an undetermined government.