BFAR-13, SIKAT hold I-FIT workshop in Siargao Island
GENERAL
LUNA, Siargao Island -- The Department of Agriculture - Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) Caraga, together with Sentro ng Katutubong Agham at
Teknolohiya (SIKAT, Inc.), the partner and support non-government organization
(NGO), recently conducted an assessment workshop using the Philippine Illegal
Unreported Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Index and Threat Assessment (I-FIT) tool
among the nine municipalities in Siargao Island.
I-FIT
focal persons presented the different components of the said tool - prevalence,
vulnerability and response of IUU fishing to readily fill-out the indicator and
annex forms.
Training
participants actively engaged in the sessions such as arranging of focuser
statements that gave them the idea of what the workshop was all about and
identifying IUU fishing activities present in their respective areas of
jurisdiction.
They also
worked together in providing inputs on the questions required to assess IUU
fishing activities in their municipal waters. They were also encouraged to
proactively coordinate and support each entity to solve the problem of IUU
fishing.
To
sustainably manage the fisheries resources and find long-lasting solutions to
IUU fishing threats, the I-FIT tool was developed and designed by Fish Right
Program and DA-BFAR in efforts to reduce and eliminate IUU fishing in the
country using a science and knowledge-based approach.
This
requires an in-depth understanding of the context of IUU fishing in municipal
waters and in a given area. This set of tools enables to assess prevalence,
vulnerability and responses to IUU fishing in specific areas starting with the
municipal waters of an LGU and use this information to identify opportunities
to address IUU fishing to develop targeted and focused strategies and
interventions.
Using the
tool will enable law enforcers to come up with standardized and comparable
tracking of progress in a given area and the entire country in reducing IUU
fishing over time.
The said
workshop assessment convened municipal agriculturists, agricultural
technologists for fisheries, municipal environment and natural resource
officers, FARMC chairpersons, representatives from the ‘Bantay Dagat’ group,
fisherfolk organizations and Philippine National Police from the nine municipalities
in Siargao Islands, Surigao del Norte.
The first
batch ran from June 22-23, 2021 with participants from four municipalities, and
on June 24-25, 2021 for the second batch with participants from five
municipalities. (DA-BFAR Caraga FPLEG/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
