Although there is no available sex disaggregated data on employment in the aquaculture sector, women are very much part of this production, from pre-harvest, harvest, to post-harvest stages. IBON's field research in areas where aquaculture is practiced confirms this assertion.

What is the extent of women's participation in aquaculture? More importantly, has aquaculture helped empower women economically and socially? Or has it only worsened the Filipina fishfarmer's plight?

Industry Background

The Philippine fisheries sector is classified into municipal fishing, which is done in coastal and inland waters; commercial or deep-sea fishing; and aquaculture. Aquaculture refers to fishery operations involving all forms of raising and culturing fish and other fishery species in fresh, brackishwater and marine areas. [1]

The top species in aquaculture in terms of production (MT) as of the year 2002 include seaweeds, comprising 66.9% of the total aquaculture production, followed by milkfish (bangus) with 17.3%, cichlid (tilapia) with 9.1%, and shrimps/prawns with 2.8 percent. Other species, including shellfish such as mussel and oyster, constitute 3.8 percent. [2] (See Table 1)

Table 1 Major Species Produced in Aquaculture Fisheries, 2002

Source: BFAR

Table 2 shows that as of 1995, over 162,234 hectares are devoted to aquaculture production, with Regions III (Central Luzon), VI (Western Visayas) and IX (Western Mindanao) accounting for almost 58% of total productive areas.

Table 2 Productive area in aquaculture fisheries, by culture system and region, 1995 (in hectares)

Source: BFAR

Aquaculture contribution to total fisheries production has been increasing consistently, while that of municipal fishing has seen sharp decline over the years, and commercial fishing has remained stable. The shift away from traditional capture fishing can be attributed to the restructuring of the local fisheries sector towards production for exports. [3]

The government's fisheries program prioritizes aquaculture as it equates modernization of the sector with increases in production for export. This export-orientation favors both the aquaculture and commercial fisheries sectors, since these primarily produce or catch fish species that are in demand abroad.

Government Employment Figures

While the government is exerting efforts to vigorously promote aquaculture and "wean" fisherfolk from capture fishing, it appears that it has no clear idea of the size of the productive forces in the aquaculture sector.

The aquaculture industry is composed of (1) the direct producers - the fishfarmers and workers engaged in different culture methods; (2) the financiers or capitalists; (3) the traders; and (4) the hatcheries, feed millers and processors. Of these, the direct producers are practically faceless as far as government data is concerned.

The last comprehensive census of fisheries made in 1980 estimated that 221,492 people were employed in the aquaculture industry, accounting for 24.1% of the total number employed in fisheries.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) had been using 258,480 as the employment figure for aquaculture for several years, based on its 1987 Fisheries Statistics. The figure, however, drastically dropped to 74,537 fishfarmers in 2000, when the estimate was based on the 1990 Census of Population and Housing done by the National Statistics Office. Then in 2002, the employment figure provided by BFAR went back to 258,480 persons.

Realistic Estimates

The total brackishwater pond area has remained almost steady since 1980 and it is not likely that the number of people employed in brackishwater ponds has changed much. But while the hectarage of brackishwater fishponds, the mainstay of Philippine aquaculture, has not increased significantly, it is generally known that there has been an increase in the number, and more widespread application, of fishcages, although estimates are not available.

There has been an upsurge especially in tilapia production from fishcages and fishpens, as the government promotes hybrid tilapia that can be raised four times a year. The Genetically Enhanced Tilapia with Excellent qualities (GET Excel), for instance, grows 10% faster and 38% bigger than ordinary tilapia, allowing increased production.

Fishcage culture, as practiced in many lakes in the Philippines, are much more labor-intensive than fishponds due to the more frequent feeding required. As cage culture, which was still insignificant in 1980, assumed a considerable degree of importance in later years, it is likely that the total employment generated by the aquaculture industry would have exceeded 300,000. [4]

Perhaps the biggest upsurge in aquaculture labor force may have occurred largely unnoticed in seaweed production. There was over 7.5 fold increase in the production of seaweeds, from only 83,000 metric tons (MT) in 1981 to 627,105 MT in 1997.

In 1980, the Census of Fisheries reported the number of operators at 16,477 and the number of employed workers at 16,805 persons, or 33,282 persons involved in seaweed production. This places the unit production per person involved at approximately 2.5-MT seaweed per person. Even assuming that the production efficiency has only doubled so that the unit production per person has reached 5-MT per person, the 1997 seaweed production figure still translates to some 125,421 operators and employed workers combined. [4]

At present, the Philippines is the third largest seaweed producer in the world and the top supplier of dried raw seaweed and carrageenan, with export sales amounting to $168 million in 2002.

Aquaculture also requires various support services such as gathering of wild fry in the case of milkfish and hatchery production of tilapia fingerlings. Dike-builders must also be counted, as their services are always required for regular maintenance work after the ponds are constructed. In addition, backyard aquaculture production of farming families or home-based processing activities (smoking or filleting of fish) done by fisherfolk families provide employment in rural communities.

Women in Aquaculture

As of October 2000, government estimates that the female labor force is some 11.67 million. But close to 73% of the government's "not in the labor force" category is composed of women. [NSO] This category includes students, housewives, elderly and handicapped, who may have wanted to look for work but did not because there are no jobs available. Thus, it can be said that women comprise the bulk of the country's actual labor force, only many of them are ignored in the government's computation. [5]

In the 1997 survey of the Department of Agriculture (DA), most women, or 30% of the total sample, were involved in agriculture, fishery and forestry, but only 39% received wages. [6]

In October 2001, 68.32% of total unpaid female workers in the country were involved in agriculture and fisheries. Of the total female workers in agriculture and fisheries, 51.49% were unpaid. Meanwhile, wage and salary female workers in the same sector comprised only 18.82 percent. Own-account female workers comprised 29.70 percent. [7]

With the lack of reliable official estimates on aquaculture employment, it is not surprising that no adequate statistics on women involved in the sector can be found. There is no available sex disaggregated data on employment in the aquaculture sector. Women, however, are very much part of aquaculture production, from pre-harvest, harvest, to post-harvest stages.

In the pre-harvest phase of production, women can be found collecting fry, preparing feeds, feeding fishes/prawns, growing mussels and oysters, planting and tying seaweeds to lines, and repairing nets. During harvest, women help in gathering and sorting for quality control. Post-harvest activities women are involved in include processing and marketing and distribution. [8]

There are also women in managerial positions, such as being operators or caretakers. It is also common for wives of fishfarmers to deal with traders on pricing of produce as well as do credit liaising. [8]

Still, some jobs are left to the men. For example, while many women are involved as owner-operator and are active in the management of fishponds and fishcages as caretakers (as illustrated in the IBON case study in Taal Lake), one cannot find a woman building dikes and installing pens and cages. In the fishcages in Taal Lake, one can see as many women feeding the fish as there are men, but one cannot find women lifting sacks of feed and boxes of fish.

Meanwhile, seaweed farming involves many women in the tying of seaweed propagules to the growing lines. In Tawi-Tawi, one can find women caretakers in the seaweed farms. [6] The IBON case study in Calatagan, Batangas found women gathering seaweed propagules grown in the shallow parts near the seashore, planting stakes at the corners of growing lines, and planting seaweed propagules. Children also help in the preparation of the seaweeds.

In the culture of lato, however, the women's role is limited to marketing. This is because lato is planted in five to six feet deep ocean water and as such is left to the men.

In a 1995 study of oyster and mussel farming in Western Visayas, 18.5% of oyster farmers were female, while women mussel farmers comprised only 2.4 percent. The disparity was explained as being due to the fact that oysters are usually grown in shallow parts of a river, while mussels are grown in deep portions of a bay. [6]

It was also noted that more males than females were involved in the strenuous tasks of staking, raft and rack construction. But the boring and stringing of oyster shells for use as clutch were observed to be a household activity involving women and children. The same was true in the shucking of harvested oysters. [6]

In the past, women were primarily in charge of selling the harvested fish. But women have become more and more involved in aquaculture production not because they have been empowered but because the economic crisis made their involvement a necessity.

Many families usually lack the finances to hire workers so every able-bodied family member becomes part of the production. Children as young as seven years old already participate in the families' economic activities. According to PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas, the era of globalization has pushed women to participate in all stages of production. Family labor has become essential to survival. [7]

Case Studies

1. Women in Fishcage Aquaculture in Sitio Tabla (Taal Lake)

Sitio Tabla, Barangay Pulo is found in the town of Talisay, Batangas. Barangay Pulo is actually the 22nd barangay of Talisay, but it is not officially recognized as a barangay. It is not found in the official records of the Municipal Office of Talisay.

Of the 21 recorded barangays of Talisay, ten are coastal barangays. Barangay Pulo, which is comprised of several sitios, is actually an island barangay found on Taal Lake, in the vicinity of the Taal Volcano. Barangay Pulo was declared a "no man's land" in 1965, according to the women interviewed by IBON.

Taal Lake is the third largest lake in the country (next to Laguna de Bay in the provinces of Laguna and Rizal and Naujan Lake in Mindoro Oriental), with an area of 24,356 hectares. Ten towns and one city of Batangas surround the lake. It has a depth of 180 meters (some fishermen/boatmen say it is 240 meters deep), while the average depth is 65 meters. The lake has 37 tributaries that drain towards Balayan Bay through the Pansipit River. [9]

Approximately 5,543.92 kilograms of fish are caught from the lake every month. Of the recorded number of fisherfolk in 1995, 582 (40.58%) are part-time, while 852 (59.41%) are full-time fishers. Part-time fisherfolk are usually engaged in fishcage operation (38%) as operators or caretakers; farmers (30%), and the remaining 30% are daily wage workers, carpenters, small fish traders, or engaged in backyard poultry, piggery and plant nurseries. [9]

There are around 120 houses in Sitio Tabla. The largest family is composed of 10, while the smallest is 3 to 4 members, or an average of 5 to 6 members per household. The families do not own the land. According to the respondents, the family of the Laurels has title to the land.

The respondents were all involved in fishcage operations. The last year they were hired as caretakers (mangangalaga) was in 2001. Tilapia and bangus were the fish species commonly cultured in the fishcages.

Although fishcage culture started in Sitio Tabla in 1990, it was in 1995 when aquafarms began to proliferate along the shores of the sitio. In the years covering 2000-2001, the number of fish cages reached its peak, where one financier, for example, owned 225 cages. In the succeeding years, many fishcages ceased to operate because of low buying prices due to oversupply and the occurrence of pests and fish diseases. Fishcage owners and operators were also beset with the high prices of feeds and other inputs.

At the height of the operation of fishcages, everyone in the community was hired as administrators (referred to as caretakers), caretakers (referred to as mangangalaga), or seasonal fishworkers during harvest season. Seasonal fishworkers were usually migrants from other towns and even far away provinces in the Visayas. There were also mangangalaga from other provinces.

At present, most of the mangangalaga are from nearby coastal barangays around Taal Lake. Only three families in the sitio have fishcages under their care.

Women were actively involved in the production process. They usually took care of the feeding process, taking note of the number of fingerlings and the actual number that developed for harvest. The women also took note of the number of fishes that die. They were also in-charge of taking the dead fishes from the pens.

Feeding is done three times per day. Feeding time usually took 1.5 hours for fingerlings at 30 minutes per feeding. The number of hours spent become longer as the fishes grow bigger, or twice as much the time needed to feed the fingerlings. During harvest time, a family spends the whole day and night at the fishcage area. Harvesting occur about twice a year.

The sharing system is employed where the financier gets 50% of the net income. The caretaker gets 25% and the mangangalaga gets the rest of the 25 percent. Not included in the production cost are the daily expenses of the mangangalaga in taking care of the fishcage. Unpaid family labor, which involves the women and the children, is also not factored into the equation. The family taking care of the fishcage/s also hires additional help who gets an average of Php1,000 to Php1,500 a year.

Socio-economic Impact

The community used to maintain farmlots planted with camote (sweet potato), rice and corn. Some fruit trees were also grown, as well as vegetable crops for the daily food needs of the family. However, when aquaculture farming became prevalent and developed into a lucrative source of income, the women altogether abandoned farming.

At present, even when most of the fishcages in the area already ceased operations, the community refuses to go back to farming even for the family's food consumption. According to the women interviewed, while there were negative effects such as pollution, fish cage culture provided a better source of income for the family.

At the same time, with the proliferation of fishcages around the lake, the volume of fishes caught in open water fishing has increased. This may be explained by the spread of fingerlings escaping from the fishcages during the breeding process, especially with the occurrence of typhoons. During typhoons, fishcages and fishpens are destroyed, releasing large quantities of fishes into the open lake area.

Ecological Impact

Based in the 1920 survey, there are 32 families and about 100 species of fish found in the lake, of which 76 are considered migratory, 15 are endemic, and eight are exotic species. However, by 1995, almost 90% of the fish species disappeared and only six migratory fish species remained, along with four endemic and eight exotic fish species. Majority of the fish species found in the lake these days are introduced species. As of 1995, most of the fish caught in open water fishing in Taal Lake is comprised of 42.7% tilapia, 30.2% tawilis, 20.7% maliputo, and 6.4 % minor species. [9]

There are also five families and 21 species of mollusks found in the lake, along with three families and seven species of crustaceans. In the past, these were considered as major food resources of the fishing communities around the lake.

Atyid shrimp (apta or yapyap) and grapsid crab (katang) were caught as food both for humans and animals. Tulya (shellfish), which was gathered for food by the community in the past, also became scarce and do not grow as big as before. Now, it is no longer used as food even for ducks. Suso (snail), which also used to be abundant in the lake, were caught as feed for ducks. At present, they are rarely found and do not grow as big as they used to.

The women fisherfolk interviewed by IBON attributed this to the pollution from fish feeds used in the fishcages. With the mushrooming of fishcages in the mid-1980s, water quality in the lake deteriorated. Pollution also caused skin diseases like an-an to become prevalent as a direct result of feeding in fishcages. Athlete's foot and ringworm are also common skin diseases among fishcage caretakers.

Empowerment of Women in Sitio Tabla

There is no existing organization in the area. The regional chapter of PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas in Southern Tagalog Region visited the area at one time in its effort to gather socio-economic information on the coastal barangays around Taal Lake.

Barangay Pulo is seldom visited by any local government unit (LGU), especially because it is not officially recognized as a barangay. The community is not aware of any local government program that is being implemented. The women interviewed have not come across the term FARM-C (Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council), which is being created by LGUs in other coastal barangays around the lake.

According to the women interviewed, they would welcome the prospect of being organized if only to give direction and unity amongst them, and be empowered politically and economically.

Source: Results of IBON's fieldwork in Sitio Tabla, Barangay Pulo, Talisay, Batangas. 22 February 2004. Sitio Tabla is about an hour ride from the town of Balete using a 4K powered motorboat (commonly used as tour boats) and about 2.5-hour ride using lesser powered fishing boats.

2. Women in Seaweeds Farming in Calatagan, Batangas

The area under study is located in Barangay West Poblacion, Calatagan, Batangas. West Poblacion is about five kilometers from the main road. The road leading to the coastal community is unpaved and only one vehicle can pass through going to and from the community.

Fishing is the primary source of income in the community. Seaweed culture, or what the locals call gulaman culture, is relegated mostly to the women.

The case study involved women who used to be engaged in the culture of brown gulaman. They are also actively involved in the culture of lato (Caulerpa, specifically C. lentillifera), though limited to marketing.

The respondents are all migrants from Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro. They are all members of the local chapter of Habagat, a federation of Batangas fisherfolk organizations affiliated with PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas. At present, their livelihood is being threatened with the conversion of the coastal area for private ownership and dispensation.

Gulaman Culture

The entire preparation and planting process takes about a week of whole-day work. Children help in the gathering of propagules and tying these for the women to finally tie to the lines. The cost of production (materials only) is at most Php2,000.

Harvesting is every three months. After harvest, the seaweeds are dried under the sun for about three days, after which these are ground and packed in sacks.

The seaweeds specie (brown gulaman) harvested by the women here is sold at Php15-Php30 a kilo (2004). In 1995-1996, a kilo fetches Php10; the price went down to Php5/kilo, then went up to Php15 until it reached Php18 to Php25 a kilo.

A sack would weigh about 25, 30 to 40 kilos. When the dried seaweed is ground well, its weight would reach 71 to 75 kilos per sack. Trucking cost is Php15/sack.

All the seaweeds are brought to a certain Dr. Hernandez from Rosario, Batangas. Dr. Hernandez is the known financier of seaweeds culture in the area under study. The last time the respondents grew seaweeds for Dr. Hernandez was in 1999.

Caulerpa "Lato" Culture

The men (usually the teenaged youth) gather seedlings of lato. These seedlings are planted at the seabed five to six feet deep. Harvesting takes place after about one to two months.

The women take care of cleaning and marketing of the harvested lato. It is usually sold at Php14 to Php18 a kilo. The lowest price at which lato is bought is Php10/kilo. At the wet markets of Lipa City, Batangas, a kilo of lato is sold at Php80.

Source: Results of IBON's fieldwork in Calatagan, Batangas, 8-10 January 2004.

Fishlords, TNCs and Globalization Policies

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade-Uruguay Round (GATT-UR) of 1994, which created the World Trade Organization (WTO), paved the way for the restructuring of all government laws, programs and policies, especially in agriculture, to conform to the GATT-WTO policies.

In the fisheries sector, the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 and the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 (Republic Act No. 8550) were implemented. The AFMA, which is supposedly an answer to the challenges of globalization, actually intensifies globalization by orienting agriculture and fisheries towards export production and increased foreign investments in agriculture and fisheries. [3]

A direct effect of the policies that adhere to globalization is the plummeting income of fisher families as the sector is liberalized and importation of fish products increased. In addition, monopoly over fish production and exploitation of marine resources became even more concentrated. [10]

To illustrate, landlords and foreign entities are able extend their control over communal fishing lands through the fishpond lease agreement (FLA) system.

As of 1987, 131,471 hectares of the 210,467 total brackishwater pond areas are privately owned. The rest, or some 78,969 hectares, are government-owned. Government-owned means public lands leased to private parties under a long-term FLA, or a year-to-year Fishpond Permit (FP), a system which has been in force since 1937 (Fisheries Administrative Order No. 14 of the Commonwealth Government). [10]

The duration of each FLA started out at 10 years, renewable up to a maximum of 50 years. The duration was increased to 20 years in 1960 (FAO No.60) and finally to the current 25 years implemented in 1979 (FAO No. 129). The 25-year duration for each lease period and the 50-year maximum was affirmed in the Fisheries Code of 1998.

The maximum area per FLA used to be 200 hectares for both individuals and corporations. The maximum area for individuals was decreased to 100 hectares in 1954 (FAO 14-4) and finally to 50 hectares in 1959, but the maximum area for corporations was doubled to 400 hectares (FAO No. 14-11). It was only in 1998 when the maximum area for corporations was reduced to 250 hectares under the new fisheries code. [9]

BFAR data show that in 2001, the Agriculture Secretary recommended 91 applications for FLAs, with an aggregate area of 1,169.259 hectares, for approval, while 76 FLAs with an aggregate area of 1,005 hectares were already approved.

The 1998 Fisheries Code also allows heirs of a deceased FLA holder to take over the lease for the unexpired term. This allows the landlords' family to continue exerting monopoly control over the fishing grounds even after his or her death. It also exempted commercial farms including prawn farms from agrarian reform and guaranteed 75 years ownership of fishcage/fishponds by landlords and foreign investors.

Today, BFAR's strategies for aquaculture are enumerated under the "Aquaculture for Rural Development" (ARD) component of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) for Fisheries Program 2001-2004.

The components of the ARD include:

• Establishment of mariculture parks patterned after the concept of industrial parks;
• Conversion of 'wastelands' (marshlands, swamplands, sand dunes, lahar areas, etc.) into productive aquaculture areas;
• Promotion of rice-ulang (giant freshwater prawn) culture;
• Promotion of saline-tolerant tilapia for mariculture;
• Culture of fish in condominium-type fish tanks;
• Development of village-level aquarium industry; and
• Establishment of seaweeds village ecozones.

Displacement of Fisherfolk

In aquaculture, fishlords' and transnational corporations' (TNCs) activities displaced thousands of subsistence fisherfolk. These small-scale fishers eked out a living either by manual gathering of shells, crabs and shrimps along the coast or by fishing nearshore using only rudimentary equipment.

Aquaculture projects prevent them from pursuing their livelihood because their traditional offshore fishing grounds have been penned off, denying them access. [3] Aggravating their plight are provisions of the Fisheries Code that include delineation of municipal fishing grounds according to territorial boundaries of municipalities.

The FLA increased the number and area of fishcages/fishponds and led to the displacement of 182,000 fisherfolk from their common fishing grounds, according to estimates of PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas.

The proliferation and expansion of aquafarms also led to the destruction of mangrove areas. From 500,000 hectares in the 1970s, mangrove areas in the country cover only 30,000 hectares at present. Also, the conversion of 4,136 coastal barangays into aquaculture areas threatens the livelihood of seven million fisherfolk. [11]

The present ARD strategy under the Arroyo government clearly favors big fishlords and TNCs at the expense of subsistence fisherfolk. Mariculture parks, for example, exclude marginalized fisherfolk who cannot afford the technology needed to go into aquaculture.

In the government's Php200 million mariculture park in Samal Island in Davao del Norte, a 10 m x 10 m fish cage costs Php141,000 and a 20 m x 20 m cage, Php235,000. These are clearly beyond the means of poverty-stricken fisherfolk, even if they pooled their resources. [11]

Jobs created at mariculture parks also seem to be mostly contract labor. BFAR reported in its 2002 GMA Program performance report that it had generated 734 jobs for contract labor at the Samal mariculture park.

Widespread Poverty

Filipino fishers income falls below subsistence level. The average income ranges from a low of Php50 to a high of Php150 daily. This is far below the Php356 daily income requirement for a family of six to subsist on. Compounding the misery, the fisherfolk, next to the peasantry, is the most food insecure sector in the country. [12]

A survey said that the traditional fishers average catch went down by as much as 43 % in the last ten years. (PDI, 16 October 1994) Today, a traditional fisher catches about two kilos of fish in a day's labor, which is already considered a good catch. If expenses incurred were deducted, what's left would not even be enough for a family of six to subsist on.

In certain areas, fishers would be lucky if they catch anything at all - as experienced by fisherfolk in Cavite and even in Laguna and Rizal, where the waters are already polluted. [12]

Exploitation

With their impoverished state and nary a support from government, many fisherfolk are increasingly exploited especially as they are displaced economically and even physically from their source of livelihood. In aquafarms, they are paid low wages and receive a measly percentage from a sharing system that favors the landlords and financiers.

Recent data from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism confirm this. In Bolinao, Pangasinan, aquaculture workers receive a small percentage - about six percent - of the net value of the fish harvest. But during the lean months, when there is no harvest, or during catastrophes like fish kills, the fishers-turned-pen workers have to make do with a Php1,000 monthly pay. [3]

Apart from the meager pay, aquaculture workers are usually hired under exploitative working arrangements. For example, the pakyaw system is essentially a contract arrangement under which aquaculture workers perform a certain job, such as harvesting the fishponds, for a fixed fee. [3]

In the pakyaw system actually applied in most fish cages, the contracted fishworkers are not paid fixed wages. Instead, they are given a certain percentage of the total equivalent value of fish catch. The amount would depend on the volume of the harvested fish.

For example in the case study of IBON on a fishcage operation in Taal Lake, for a harvest of 2,000 tons of fish (in 2001), eight fishermen divide among themselves Php2,000 for two nights of harvesting or about 48 hours of work. This would amount to only Php125.00 a day for each fisherman.

In most aquafarms, only the guards and caretakers are hired on a regular basis. In smaller fishponds, the guard and the caretaker are usually only one person. According to PAMALAKAYA, they are generally family members or trusted friends of the fishpond owners. They are also exploited by being paid low wages, although their rate of exploitation is lower because their wages are higher and they enjoy a larger share of the net income.

However, this is not always the case, considering that caretakers/managers of fishponds, pens or cages work almost 24 hours a day from feeding to cleaning and guarding the ponds/pens/cages.

All these tasks are carried out and shared by the caretaker's whole family, including the wife and physically-able children. For instance, the wife and the children alternately do the feeding when the caretaker is not around.

IBON's field research in Barangay Balibago, Calatagan, Batangas, the male caretaker is paid a fixed rate of Php5,000 a month plus a small percentage of the profit from the harvest.

For example, Php3,000 was given to the caretaker as his share in the harvest. This amount is small considering that the returns of fishpond financiers from the culture of bangus are considerably high, reaching up to hundreds of thousands in clean profits. In this case, the caretaker does not know the actual value of the fish harvested. Moreover, the family's total expenses is over Php9,000 a month, which means the family has even incurred a deficit. [13]

This financier-caretaker relationship is therefore just as exploitative as that with the seasonally hired harvesters, whose participation in the entire production process is limited to harvesting.

Aquaculture: Multiplying Women's Burden

The devastating effects of globalization of Philippine fisheries doubly affect the women in fisherfolk households, especially because of the backward and feudal character of Philippine society and economy. Women suffer more from class exploitation because of gender bias. This class exploitation is exacerbated by globalization wherein dwindling marine resources are increasingly monopolized.

In agriculture and fisheries, much of the women's work is unrecognized and unpaid. If they are compensated, their wages are far below the wages received by the men. [6]

Filipino women play an active role in aquaculture as shown in IBON's case studies. But since this economic activity currently thrives on the exploitation of fishfarmers and workers, women are all the more exploited because their participation in the production process is not factored into the compensation received by their husbands.

In fact, it is not only the women who are exploited but the children as well. Aquaculture, like tenanted farms, is actually a family activity where the women's and the children's labor are seldom, if at all, compensated.

Aquaculture has indeed served as either the main source of income or an alternative source of livelihood for some fishing communities, especially for women. In both cases, however, the livelihood lasts for as long as there is a financier or investor.

This is not at all surprising because while the government has focused on aquaculture to boost fisheries production especially for exports, it has increasingly relied on private capital to finance its supposed development programs.

This has left the fishing communities poorer than ever and has placed them at the mercy of both local and foreign investors. Thus, while aquaculture production may be beneficial to the economy and may be considered an alternative source of fish for local consumption, aquaculture as it is practiced in the country today has brought more harm than good to fisherfolk families.

Sources:

1. Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.

2. Philippine Fisheries Profile, 2002.

3. Yu, Joseph S. "Philippine Aquaculture: For Export Only?" IBON Facts & Figures, 15 June 2003.

4. www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X6943E/x6943e06.htm

5. "Philippine Labor Force: Concealed Realities." IBON Facts & Figures, 15 May 2001.

6. Felsing, M. & Baticados, D. "The Role of Women in Aquaculture in the Philippines: Obstacles and Future Options" in Gender Concerns in Aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Edited by Kyoko Kusakabe & Govind Kelkar. Bangkok: Asian Institute of Technology, 2001, vi, 102 p. Gender Studies Monograph 12.

7. "Labor Feminization in the Context of Crisis and Globalization" IBON Facts & Figures, 31 March 2002.

8. Interview with PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas, 19 September 2003.

9. Mercene, Eliadora C. & Mutia, Ma. Theresa M. Fishery Resources of Taal Lake, 1995.

10. PAMALAKAYA Far-South Mindanao and Fisherfolk Resource Development Center. "Analysing the Tuna Fishing Sector in General Santos."

11. Luna, Jun."Kumbersyon at Pribatisasyon ng Pook Pangisdaan: Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas." Ang Pamalakaya, Abril-Hulyo 2003.

12. PAMALAKAYA Pilipinas. "The National Fisherfolk Situationer."

13. IBON's field research in Calatagan, Batangas, 8-10 January 2004.

References:

1. Sharma, Chandrika. "The Impact of Fisheries Development and Globalization Processes on Women of Fishing Communities in the Asian Region." Paper presented at the APRN Conference on Globalization and its Impact on Women's Labor, Bangkok, Thailand, 18-20 June 2003.

2. PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas. "Fisheries Globalization: Impacts, Fishers Resistance and Alternatives." Paper submitted to the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly- Forum on Land, Food Security and Agriculture, Workshop on Globalization and Fisheries, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9-12 November 1998.

Abbreviations used:

NSO - National Statistics Office

PDI - Philippine Daily Inquirer

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