by Marvin Pamisa

TACLOBAN CITY, Southern Leyte —The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 8 convened key stakeholders in Tacloban City on August 22-23 to gather input and feedback for refining the sardine fisheries management plan for Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 9.

The event brought together representatives from the PNP Maritime Group, the academe, the Philippine Coast Guard, and other industry experts.

BFAR-8 OIC Regional Director Dominador Maputol emphasized the importance of the consultation, noting that effective fisheries management requires collaboration among all stakeholders.

“Our consultation is not only for us but also for our future generations so that they would still have food to eat,” he added.

The two-day regional consultation featured in-depth discussions on sardine fisheries’ status and a review of the draft management plan.

Participants also engaged in breakout sessions to discuss targeted management actions for sardines, which include reducing fishing days, implementing a closed fishing season, and enforcing a ban on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

The next step after the series of regional consultations is to present the inputs from various stakeholders to the management board of FMA 9, which will then decide on future steps. (#MPamisa//FishCoRe)