FEATURE| November 23, 2014
2 MIN READBy NATHAN SALVADOR
www.nordis.net
AGOO, La Union — Hundreds of people flocked to the shores of three fishing communities not to enjoy the sea and the fresh fish, but to rid the coasts of what is said to have been contributing to the poverty of the coastal barangays in Agoo.
NOT ON OUR WATERS. Participants from Timek-La Union banner their calls for the rights and benefits for the fisherfolk onto their fishing boats and paraded them on the coasts on Agoo, La Union. Photo by Nathan Salvador
In celebration of the world fisheries day last Friday, the Katinnulong Daguiti Umili Iti Amianan – Regional Development Center (Kaduami), with the cooperation of Timek ken Namnama Dagiti Mangngalap ti La Union (Timek) and other progressive groups in Northern Luzon, organized a coastal cleanup along the shores of Barangays San Nicolas, San Isidro, and San Manuel.
In connection with this, Timek’s calls for change that would benefit the small town coastal fisherfolk of Northern Luzon were painted on recycled sacks and bannered on fishing boats, which were led to sea before the clean-up proper.
Their calls included scrapping Republic Act 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 in favor of a fisheries code that would benefit and give rcognition of rights of the municipal fisherfolk, and drive large commercial fishing vessels out of municipal waters, the rejection of offshore mining, and the ouster of the incumbent president.
Participants, who were distributed along the shoreline of the three barangays, were given bags in four distinct colors to place a certain type of garbage into. Cans, PET bottles, glass bottles, and paper were collected, as well as non-recyclables items including unreusable plastics and cigarette butts.
Kaduami Executive Secretary Esther Roxanne Veridiano stated that this clean-up is a form of expression that the sea is losing marine life due to overfishing by commercial fishing vessels, known as the competition of municipal fisherfolk.
Pollution, she says, is a contributory factor to the considerable loss of marine life in municipal waters. This in turn forces the fish to migrate to deeper waters, where commercial fishing vessels can catch them with ease with their sophisticated fishing equipment.
As a result, the amount of fish commercial fishing vessels get in one catch is the same as the amount of fish municipal fisherfolk get in a year.
The event was closed after an hour of cleaning the coasts with messages and performances from organizations and institutions. # nordis.net
