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Abstract:
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"In the Philippines, small-scale fisheries, as common pool resources, remains beset by the problems of resource degradation and widespread poverty in coastal communities. Even as open access persists in most of the country's fishing grounds and state policies are unable to catalyze the development of an efficient and sustainable fishing industry, community-based coastal resources management (CBCRM) approaches centered on property rights are being increasingly adopted by fisherfolk and non- government organizations as both tactical necessity and strategic imperative.
"With the CBCRM movement in the Philippines entering its second generation, there have been both successes and failures. There have been substantial gains in the area of resource conservation especially with marine protected areas as one of the main strategies being employed. However, this stands in stark contrast to assertions of small-scale fishers that they do not benefit economically from their crucial role in coastal resource management. In their own words, 'the fish have come back but the buying price in the market has dropped so were no better off than we were before.'
"To address this situation, organized fisherfolk and their support organizations are giving added emphasis on livelihood and enterprise initiatives at the community level. These initiatives, firmly rooted in CBCRM, would work towards the economic engagement of fisherfolk with both local and distal markets in their own terms. This means development of value-added fishery products and marketing systems to foster their participation in the national and global economy if they so choose, taking into account the optimal balance between production for local food security and for the market.
"To deepen the investigation into the situation of small- scale fishers vis-à-vis other economic players at the local, national and global level, value chain analysis will be utilized as a tool from which to develop a framework that can inform both the development of local livelihood and enterprise initiatives and the formulation of appropriate public policy. Such framework would sketch a broad outline of fisheries as an economic sector and serve as basis for more detailed studies on selected fisheries, the production and marketing of which is crucial to small-scale fishing communities specifically tuna, shrimp and small pelagic species.
"Value chain analysis would focus on the dynamic of interlinkages in the fishing industry and describe the full range of activities required to bring fishery products from capture/culture, through the different phases of production and delivery to final consumers. It will deepen inquiry into the disjuncture between high levels of economic integration into national and global product markets and the extent to which countries and people actually gain from such integration."
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