Philippines tries to bring back small fish key to rural diet

By JOEAL CALUPITAN and PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press

TANAUAN, Leyte, Philippines (AP) — Years of market pressures, lack of fisheries management and unchecked overfishing from larger commercial fishers have led to a decline in small fish such as sardines that rural coastal communities in the Philippines depend on. Data is not available for many fish, but conservation group Oceana has said more than 75% of the nation’s fishing grounds are depleted. Recently, the country has begun to make strides in rebuilding fisheries with spawning closures. About 1.6 million people in the country work in fisheries, and the majority of those fishers are small-scale harvesters who collectively catch almost half of the nation’s fish.