US funds Palawan center for fishers to report illegal fishing

MANILA, Philippines — The United States has funded a new maritime monitoring center in Palawan that will collect real-time reports from Filipino fishers on illegal fishing and suspicious vessel movements, the US Embassy in Manila announced Thursday, August 13.

The Community Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Reporting Center opened on July 30 under a joint effort with the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.

Equipped with Starlink satellite internet and EarthRanger data software, the facility will aggregate real-time reports from local fishers on suspected illegal fishing, unusual vessel activity and other illegal activities, the US embassy said. These will then be forwarded to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the National Maritime Center and the Provincial Government of Palawan.

The center operates under "Fish Right," a program originally launched in 2018 as a USAID initiative focused on marine biodiversity, sustainable seafood supplies and community fisheries management. 

Following US President Donald Trump's directive to freeze and review all foreign aid in January 2025, Fish Right was transferred from the now-defunct USAID to the US State Department. 

The program restarted in May 2025 with its broader traditional conservation mandates stripped and a focus now turned toward maritime domain awareness and increasing the US' strategic presence in the resource-rich waters of the West Philippine Sea.

“By providing fisherfolk with a safe and accessible way to report suspected illegal fishing and other unlawful maritime activities, this Community IUU Fishing Reporting Center empowers coastal communities to become active partners in protecting our fisheries,” Drusila Esther Bayate, Department of Agriculture undersecretary for fisheries, said.

US Embassy Officer Taylor Fincher said addressing illegal fishing and related maritime concerns is "an important area of cooperation between the United States and the Philippines.”

Jonathan Fritz, principal deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters in Manila in September 2025 that the Philippines was the first recipient of the Trump administration's new system of foreign aid, focused on energy resilience, the Luzon Economic Corridor and countering illegal fishing.