Aiming to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the province of Guimaras, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 6 through its Guimaras Provincial Fisheries Office (PFO) crafted IUU Fishing Reduction Plan through the use of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool (IFIT) in the five municipalities of Guimaras on March 1 – 3, 2023.

The IFIT is a set of tools designed and developed by the BFAR, with support from USAID Fish Right Program, to measure the IUU fishing threat in municipal waters by assessing the vulnerability, prevalence, and current responses of local government units (LGU) using a science-based and standardized approach. Using the tool, LGU and fisheries law enforcers can come up with systematized assessments and tracking ways in reducing IUU fishing over time.

“Ang illegal fishing, indi masarangan sang isa lang ka munisipyo. Ang tanan nga munisipyo sa Probinsya sang Guimaras should gather and harmonize [our plans]. Proteksyonan naton ang isa kag isa para ma-proteksyonan man ang future sang aton mga kabataan. We unite for the protection of our municipal waters for our fisherfolks who are dependent on our natural resources”, said Hon. Samuel T. Gumarin, Mayor of Municipality of Buenavista, in his welcome message.

The participants were engaged in a series of interactive sessions and workshops where they provided inputs to the questions and scoresheets to assess IUU fishing activities in their municipal waters. They were also encouraged to proactively coordinate and support each entity to solve the problem of IUU fishing.

The IUU Fishing Assessment Report and IUU Reduction Plan as the output of the activity will be used by LGU as the basis for their strategies to reduce specific types of IUU fishing, assess the level of effectiveness of their current responses, and quantify the reduction of specific types of IUU fishing Threats in their respective municipal waters.

“Thankful ako for venues like this [because] it is high time for the five municipalities to sit down so that our efforts against IUU Fishing are concerted, united, and targeted. Interested gid ako nga magpungko diri para mas maintindihan ko pagid kung ano ang overall picture kag status sang illegal fishing activities sang amun banwa, kabay pa productive ang aton discussions, kag magamit naton para maghagan-hagan ang IUU FISHING activities sa aton nga mga respective municipalities”, said Mayor Paul Vincent G. DeLa Cruz of LGU Nueva Valencia.

Neil Catalan, Municipal Agriculturist of the Buenavista, in his reflection said he was thankful because IFIT provided them with various options to enforce the fisheries laws and protect the resources. He added that the IFIT was one of the best achievements of BFAR in Guimaras through the PFO for the first quarter of 2023.

The activity was participated by municipal mayors, sangguniang bayan chairperson on the Committee on Fisheries, municipal agriculturists, municipal planning and development officers, fisheries technicians, environment officers, FARMC chairpersons, and representatives from the bantay dagat from the five municipalities in Guimaras. The activity was conducted with support from the USAID Fish Right Program. ###/KGVelagio