on Oct 16th, 2006
Alternative livelihoods for fisher folk save fish stocks
This appeared in the VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) magazine and was brought to our attention by Nigel. It is easy for us, sitting here in relative luxury to be judgemental about people in far away places and say they ’shouldn’t’ be doing this or that, but these people believe that there are no alternatives but to carry on what they have been doing for hundreds if not thousands of years. Whilst the end result is not 100% veggie, it shows people that there are alternatives to fishing to the point of extinction without being dictated to.
In the small coastal town of Hernani on the island of Samar in the Philippines, seven VSO volunteers are working with the local government to find alternatives to over-fishing in Matarunao Bay.
Four bordering municipalities cover Matarinao Bay area, and all share a common problem. Luzviminda Japzon, one of the local mayors says, “Before, the bay was flowing with fish, but now it’s deteriorating and coral is destroyed. If we impose coastal resource management and the other municipalities don’t, then everything is a waste of time.”
British volunteer Jamie Davies, a marine biologist and Luzviminda’s colleague, has helped set up a legal structure for the Matarinao Bay Management Council, which means the different councils will work closely together to enforce national fisheries law and stamp out illegal fishing.
Andy Foster, another British volunteer, has a degree in environmental science and a background in management consultancy. He has helped trial a series of small businesses that provide alternative livelihoods for fisher folk; harvesting seaweed, breeding mud crabs in the mangroves, manufacturing coconut oil in a small factory, and growing stocks of ‘rabbit fish’, a type of fish that eats vegetables.
Fisherman Rene Calvadores heads a local cooperative set up with Andy’s help in the district of San Miguel. He says, “Two years ago, you could hear a blast every 30 minutes. We didn’t hear any today. Before the cooperative there was a lot of illegal activity – but there isn’t now that we have an alternative source of income from harvesting the seaweed. There are more fish today in San Miguel.
Martin is right, we should not criticise hungry people for eating animals. What we need to do is work with Aid organisations to demonstrate practical ways of helping poor people achieve a vegan lifestyle.