(ALVIN KASIBAN/MANILA BULLETIN)
On March 9, USAID, together with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), released the results of a study that quantified illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Philippines.
According to the report, illegal fishing amounted to 27 to 40 percent of fish caught in 2019 in the Philippines, which translates to approximately P62 billion (US$1.3 billion) in value annually.
Moreover, at least 30,000 or 30 percent of municipal vessels remain unregistered, and commercial fishers do not report up to 422,000 metric tons of fish each year.
These statistics show the vast impact IUU fishing has on the Philippines’ marine ecosystem, USAID said.