Groups urge review of fishpond lease program

MANILA, Philippines — Various groups are calling for the review of the Fishpond Lease Agreement (FLA) to boost the country’s aquaculture production.

In a media roundtable of Tugon Kabuhayan yesterday, several groups cited the tenurial issue in the FLA under Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 197-1, which affects aquaculture production.

FAO 197-1 is a system that governs the lease of public lands for fishpond development through an FLA, which was entered by and between the Department of Agriculture secretary and a qualified applicant.

The FLA has a term of 25 years and can be renewed for another 25 years, wherein the unused fishponds will be reverted to mangroves.

“What is happening is that the production of these fishponds is not being maximized under FLA because of that ruling,” said David Villaluz, Philippine Association of Fish Producers Inc. (PAFPI) chairman.

He noted that there are around 60,000 hectares of fishponds under FLAs, with some having only 30 percent capacity.

The PAFPI is seeking the renewal of FLAs beyond the 50-year maximum to maximize the production of these fishponds.

Meanwhile, Pangingisda Natin Gawing Tama (Panagat) Network representative Dennis Calvan underscored the need to address abandoned, underdeveloped, and underutilized fishponds.

The group is also pushing for the issuance of guidelines for turnover and actual physical reversion of abandoned fishponds by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“The DENR has yet to issue guidelines. We are blinded on what is happening with the fishponds turned over by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to DENR for mangrove reforestation. Our group is pushing for reforestation of reverted fishponds to DENR since mangroves are important to the production side,” Calvan said.

Tugon Kabuhayan co-convenor Norbert Chingcuanco also pushed for a national policy for a long-term permit for sea cages.

“Most of our sea cages, the main production unit for bangus and tilapia, are required to get yearly permits.

Although it’s a local government unit (LGU) rule, if we have a national policy to encourage LGU for sustainability to provide each grower a tenure permit at his own location provided they follow DOLE rules, DENR rules and proper mooring, we will see immediate improvement in production,” he said.

Last year, the fisheries sector grew by 2.2 percent to 4.34 million MT to 4.25 million MT, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

Total harvests from aquaculture rose 4.6 percent to 2.24 million MT. The aquaculture subsector cornered the biggest share of 54.1 percent of the total fisheries production.

However, most of the growth from the subsector is from seaweeds. Bangus and tilapia production fell by 12.6 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.