Sustainable livelihood options for poor and vulenrable fishers in Sorsogon
The executive director of Trowel Development Foundation presented his proposal on sustainable livelihood options for small-scale fishers during the Sorsogon Province Fishery Summit held in Sorsogon City in July 2015. Attended by men and women fishers organizations, local government units, government agencies and non-government organizations, the summit tackled the problems of the three fishing grounds surrounding the province - depleted fishery resources, degraded fish habitat, illegal fishing practices, and ineffective law enforcement among others. Director Leonardo Rosario proposed three sustainable livelihoods options to address the problems. |
First, to decrease the fishing pressure on the already depleted municipal waters by encouraging fishers to engage in mariculture - seaweed culture for Gracilaria species and mussel culture following the floating coconet method. Second, to promote and adopt responsible fishing practices among small-scale fishers through zoning and delineation of regulated fishing and marine protected areas, and to ban the catching of spawners and fish juveniles. And third, to expand existing fishing areas by rehabilitating denuded mangrove areas to improve fishery habitat and to utilize idle and unproductive fishponds for eco-friendly aquaculture activities. |
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