Empowering Small-scale Fishers through Community Fish Landing Centers in the Philippines

Abstract

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) provides fisheries management support facilities for the community fish landing centers (CFLCs) for sustainable and responsible fishing. CFLCs were established in 2015, serving as hubs for fishers’ economic activities, aiming to reduce post-harvest losses, improve socioeconomic conditions, and provide essential infrastructure for small-scale fishers. This article evaluates the importance of CFLCs in managing fishery resources sustainably and empowering local communities, as well as determining the economic benefits of the CFLCs, such as favorable trade conditions, decrease in post-harvest losses, increased fishers’ income, and loan assistance programs. While CFLCs and other community-management strategies sustain fisheries and livelihoods, their long-term viability depends on overcoming a number of challenges: ensuring socioeconomic support, responding to climate change, improving institutional support, and enabling fishers to generate direct economic benefits in parallel with environmental benefits. Poverty, food insecurity, and a lack of alternatives mainly block small-scale fishers from adopting improved practices. Key next steps include governing better, supporting a wider range of socioeconomic and financial services for fishers, and ensuring stakeholders’ commitment to sustainability measures.