Partnership with the USAID OCEANS kicks off in 19th National Tuna Congress
In the recently concluded
19th NTC, Mr. Geronimo
Silvestre, Chief of Party of the USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership,
presented THE USAID OCEANS AND FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP: AREGIONAL COOPERATION TO COMBAT ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED FISHING ANDPROMOTE SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES IN THE ASIA – PACIFIC REGION.
Before an audience of more than 500,
Silvestre highlighted the USAID OCEANS’ mission to combat illegal, unreported
and unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud, promote sustainable fisheries
and conserve marine biodiversity. Aware of the mounting reminders that our
oceans are not an “endless” source, the USAID OCEANS aims to achieve
sustainable fisheries and conservation of biodiversity through public-private
partnership in the implementation of the catch documentation system. It pilots
its engagement on the regional level in General Santo City, Philippines and
Bitung, Indonesia.
In the same venue, UPDATES ON THE USAID OCEANS CDT PROJECT
in General Santos City and Indonesia were presented by Mr. Farid Maruf (of the
USAID OCEANS Fisheries Partnership) and Mr. Zaldy Perez (of BFAR). Discussed
were the current collaboration and work of Oceans with competent authorities
and government agencies in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam as well
as partnership work with private sectors and NGOs. Existing initiatives for
both large and small scale fisheries were also tackled. Important also was the
introduction of how the stakeholders can maximize the use of the Catch
Documentation system.
Farud’s presentation centered on the
technical concept and specifications of fisheries CDT in Southeast Asia. He
pointed out the initial step of defining Critical Tracking events of CTEs in
order to allow for effective traceability of products throughout the supply
chain. He also identified Key Data Elements (KDEs) that need to be captured to
enable and/or maintains linkages to traceability. He also underscored lessons
from the field and best practices.
BFAR launches Electronic Catch Documentation System
In support to the
Philippine Government’s efforts to eliminate illegal, unreported and
unregulated (IUU) fishing, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, in
partnership with USAID OCEANs and SFFAII, launched the Electronic Catch
Documentation and Traceability (eCDT) System on September 6, 2017, the first
day of the 19th National Tuna Congress (NTC).
With the end
objective of its implementation and roll out to the fishing sector, this
project is designed to encourage the collection and analysis of ecological and
economic data related to seafood products throughout the seafood supply chain,
enabling traceability from point of catch to import and end-retail.
In the launching and
throughout the Congress, audio visual presentation materials were exhibited and
printed materials on the eCDT program were distributed.
Social Welfare Issues Take Center Stage in the 19th NTC
There is a need to
integrate social welfare components into the program. In the 19th NTC,
topics on gender and labor took center stage.
In this topic, Ms.
Claudette Urmeneta, the Capability Building Manager, of Verite (Southeast
Asia), discussed the results of the assessment of the labor conditions in the
program’s learning sites- General Santos City and Bitung, Indonesia.
For the Oceans and
Fisheries Partnership, Verite undertook research to describe labor conditions
in the tuna sector in General Santos City, Philippines and to note ways on how
labor and social concerns could be integrated with the emerging Catch
Documentation Traceability System.
Among the key findings were the
following:
Land-based facilities
- 90% of recruitment and hiring is
brokered by employment agencies, cooperatives through a formal process;
- Almost all are subcontracted or
outsourced, employed by agencies or cooperatives that have direct contracts
with the facilities.
- Formal grievance mechanisms are in
place, sometimes with involvement of labor- management committee or unions in
some factories
- Work is generally standardized,
following an 8-5 schedule.
- Workers are supposed to be paid the
minimum wage but many are paid on a target production output basis,
Vessel-based
- Documentation in
handline fishing is not well-established while workers in purse seine fishing
mostly have complete documentation
- Purse seine workers
have formal orientation and on-boarding process but accordingly, this is absent
in handline fishers
- In handline
operations grievances, discipline, decisions regarding pay, conditions are
handled by boat operators. In purse seine, disciplinary actions and grievances
are handled by or coursed through the vessel captain.
- Work can be
continuous or sporadic, depending on location, conditions at sea, availability
of the fish
- Prevailing scheme
is profit sharing. Some interviewees complain of unreliable wages and benefits.
- Some boats have
medical equipment, but safety training is insufficient
In general, copy of
work contracts are not provided to workers. Most are of legal age. There are
risks of contract substitution, due to lack of standardized
information/agreements about actual terms and conditions of job.
Recommendations in
the study are related to institutional labor governance, labor data management,
and data collection for monitoring labor conditions and issues. It roused
reactions of varying kinds and degrees from the participants, among which are
the concerns on the statistical method used in the research and the
interpretation of the same.
Here, Dr. Marieta
Sumagaysay of The National Network on Women in Fisheries in the Philippines,
Inc. presented empirical evidence on gender differentials along the tuna
value chain and expounded on its significance to the fisheries.
Access to Assets
Fishers have limited
information available to fishers to improve fishing; in the processing chain,
there is equal access of both sexes to trainings and capacity development and
equal access to occupy supervisory positions; female traders have less access
to profitable markets.
Knowledge, Beliefs and Perceptions
In fishing, women are
discouraged to join fishing trips due to conflict with household roles; there
are still beliefs that women have not developed skills and stamina compatible
with fishing; cultural beliefs that are unfavorable to women boarding fishing
boats still prevail.
Females engaged in
the processing of frozen tuna are more knowledgeable about tuna fishery
regulations than their male counterparts. However, the reverse is true to those
engaged in tuna value added products. There is no gender
differential in canned tuna processing.
In Trading, positive
beliefs about women traders may result to entry of more women in trading
business and better appreciation of the women’s role in tuna value chain
Practices and Participation
In fishing, men
dominate almost all tasks, except for record keeping of finances, making
payments, recording catch. There are a few tasks however where women are
starting to be visible. Women in municipal fisheries are more aware of
fisheries-related projects than their male counterpart
In trading, stereotypes about work prevail.
Time and Space
In fishing, men seemed to be assuming more reproductive activities.
Women in Tuna
Value-Added Products and Frozen Tuna processing spend more hours in
reproductive work.
Legal Rights and Status
More than half of
fishers groups are aware of some fisheries laws/policies; only purse seine
fishers report better conditions (social security coverage, insurance, and
protective gear); municipal fishers are least able to avail of legal labor
benefits.
In trading, social
security and accident insurance for both men and women are notably absent.
Power and Decision- Making
On the fishing side,
mothers generally decide on food, budget, and community involvement; both
parents decide on education & discipline; husband decides on
fishing-operations except in marketing the catch where wife’s participation is
recognized.
Both male and female
processing workers decide on matters related to children, school, work, family
planning and health and membership in organizations.
Male traders decide
on work matters but usually turn over earnings to wives who manage the
household budget. Female traders decide on matters pertaining to trading
operations but consult spouse out of respect to the position of man as head of
the household.
Recommendations
include collaboration with all stakeholders and the VC players being crucial
for purposes of complementation of efforts, as well as to plan for
sustainability after any intervention (e.g. Oceans) exits from the learning
site; enhance the GAD Code to include CDT/EAFM; identify and engage local
gender champions (both men and women); and the results of this gender analysis
to serve as a baseline and reference for future monitoring of how fast and how
vast has gender mainstreaming and integration happened along the tuna VC.
PROJECT INCEPTION
The Project’s
Inception Workshop will be held November 6-7, 2017 at the East Asia Royale
Hotel, General Santos City. Significantly integrated into the activity is the
BFAR’s eCDT System Development Workshop. This aims to gather the stakeholders’
inputs as the workshop aims to revalidate data and consult the stakeholders in
the finalization of the eCDT system design and flow and overall
development.
