Senator files bill to protect 15-km fishing zones

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Senator Loren Legarda has filed the Municipal Fisherfolk Protection Act, seeking to reserve the entire 15-kilometer municipal waters exclusively for municipal fisherfolk to restore constitutional preferential rights and promote ecological sustainability in the Philippines’ coastal zones.

The proposed legislation responds directly to the Supreme Court’s November 2024 decision in G.R. No. 270929, which upheld a lower court ruling allowing licensed commercial fishing vessels to operate in municipal waters beyond seven fathoms—overturning key provisions of the Philippine Fisheries Code that empowered local government units (LGUs) to enforce fishing regulations.

According to the Supreme Court, “municipal water is a natural resource… vested to the national government agency, not with the LGUs,” stripping municipalities of their enforcement role under Section 149 of the Local Government Code.

“This bill is not a reaction to a single case,” Legarda said. “It is a reaffirmation of a long-standing commitment to small-scale fisherfolk. It restores legislative clarity and renews our obligation to protect subsistence fishers who rely on these waters for survival.”

Data from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) show a deepening crisis in the sector.

From 2014 to 2023, commercial fisheries production dropped by 25.7 percent, falling from 1.1 million to 822,427 metric tons, while municipal fisheries shrank 14.5 percent over the same period—losing 149,433 metric tons.

Western Visayas recorded an 18.5 percent year-on-year drop in municipal fisheries output during the first quarter of 2024, falling from 25,072 metric tons in 2023 to 19,942 metric tons, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing remains a major contributor to these losses, costing an estimated ₱5.4 billion annually and resulting in over 107,000 metric tons of fish loss in both 2022 and 2023.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and BFAR have warned that continued incursion by commercial vessels into nearshore zones “could lead to faster collapse of fish stocks and irreversible damage to coastal ecosystems.”

“If commercial fishing is allowed to expand further into these zones,” the bill’s explanatory note reads, “we risk accelerating both ecological collapse and social displacement.”

The bill invokes two constitutional provisions: Article X, Section 2 on local autonomy, and Article XIII, Section 7, which directs the State to grant preferential access to subsistence fishers.

It also reaffirms the doctrine of jura regalia, which vests natural resources in the State—not to withhold from LGUs, but to delegate stewardship within a decentralized governance system.

“When the State defines gear types, vessel limits, and enforcement rules, it is not stepping back—it is actively regulating and controlling,” the explanatory note states.

“With over 2.2 million square kilometers of seas and 36,000 kilometers of coastline, national agencies cannot patrol alone. That’s why LGU partnership is essential.”

In practice, the 15-kilometer zone reflects the maximum area small fishers in paddle boats or motorized bancas can safely access.

“With subsistence fishers unable to compete with commercial operators, the most direct, environmentally sound, and logical way to protect them is by reserving the only area they can safely access,” Legarda said.

Advocacy groups such as Oceana Philippines and PANGISDA Pilipinas criticized the court ruling, warning that dismantling the 15-kilometer limit undermines science-based management reforms introduced by RA 10654 and violates constitutional guarantees for municipal fishers.

In 2024, the country’s total municipal fisheries production fell to 802,770 metric tons—the lowest since 2002—representing just 19.8 percent of the national fish catch.

Experts estimate that more than 70 percent of Philippine fishing grounds are now overfished, which threatens long-term food security and displaces vulnerable coastal communities.

Small-scale fisherfolk—defined as operating vessels of three gross tons or less—account for more than 26 percent of fish volume and 39 percent of fish value nationwide, according to BFAR and the TBTI Global partnership.

TBTI Global, or Too Big To Ignore, is a global research initiative and knowledge network that advocates for the inclusion, sustainability, and well-being of small-scale fisheries. Founded in 2012 and based at Memorial University in Canada, TBTI collaborates with academics, communities, NGOs, and governments to produce evidence-based policy recommendations and amplify the voices of marginal fishers across more than 80 countries, including the Philippines.

Of the estimated 2.3 million registered fisherfolk in the Philippines as of 2022, 1.1 million are actively engaged in capture fishing, with a poverty incidence of 30.6 percent—far above the national average of 18.9 percent.

In many coastal areas, especially within the Coral Triangle, community-led volunteer groups like Bantay Dagat are the last line of defense against IUU fishing, though they face limited resources and increased pressure.

“This legislation draws a rightful line between survival and exploitation,” the bill states.