From Noel Ocampo Reyes, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, DA, comes this 06 February 2020 news: “DA Chief Orders Streamlined Efforts To Attain Sustainable, Inclusive ‘Blue Economy’.” He says:
Agriculture Secretary William D Dar has directed three fishery agencies of the department – the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) – to unify and synergize their efforts, plans and programs to attain a sustainable and inclusive "blue economy."
What DA Chief William Dar/Manong Willie is actually saying is this: “Get your acts together!” This is doubly important for the prolonged prosperity of the population of familiesdependent on aquatic resources as well as prolonged productivity of the population of fish. Yes, they go together.
I worked as the managing editor of the ICLARM Newsletter in 1981; already at that time, the scientists were saying that Laguna Lake was dying! Today I say it is dead – not only from the wastes coming from factories, resorts and residences from surrounding towns but also the oversupply of fish feeds.
Aside from polluting the waters, people disobey the laws of Mother Nature. Not only in aquaculture but also in inland and coastal fisheries, our fish managers and fishers do notobserve the Law of Optimum Sustainable Yield, OSY:
When they harvest fish, they always go for the maximum unsustainable yield! And then years later they complain that the fish stocks are dwindling.
I blame the fishermen, managers of fish companies, and government watchdogs for not practicing, not imposing conservation. Why do fishermen insist on maximizing their catch when Mother Nature declares that that is a one-way ticket to perdition?!
OSY declares that you should allow the resource to replenish itself before you exploit it again. If you continue to harvest too soon, to harvest the young as well as the pregnant ones with eggs, the fish stock will disappear fast!
So, Manong Willie is right on track; he knows what the fisheries agencies should be doing to serve the people better:
In particular, Secretary Dar ordered the crafting and implementation of a national fisheries development program that harmonizes the strengths of the PFDA in fisheries infrastructure, NFRDI in research for development on sustainable fisheries, and BFAR in implementing innovative and programs that will particularly benefit small aquaculture and coastal fishers through increased productivity and fish catch, while protecting the country's aquaculture and marine resources.
There is the old Navajo proverb that states: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime[1].” Pay attention please: The phrase “how to fish” not only includes methods of catching and/or raising fish but also observing limits to growth.
The Blue Economy can only be if the Cultivation and Capture of aquatic resources is accompanied by Conservation. The above image, from GenSan fish port, shows big fish. Now:
If the fishermen practice Conservation, they will have fish for a day, plus fish for a lifetime!@517
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