By Maricar M. Calubiran

THE success story in the lives of the villagers in Barangay Nasidman, Ajuy painted a picture of  DSWD’s Convergence Strategy that addresses poverty through harmonized implementation of its three major programs: the Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan- Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services), the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, and the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

Kalahi-CIDSS provides funding for the installation of 150 artificial reefs in the village in 2004 aimed to address the declining fish catch in the coastal waters of Nasidman. Residents make money from the sea by drying the fishes they catch. The dried fish-making business is a lucrative source of income in the village, particularly for women. This livelihood gets a boost from the DSWD through the SLP, which provides capital assistance and capability building to villagers, who formed themselves into groups to borrow capital and to start their own income generating projects.

There are five registered associations in Nasidman. One of these associations is composed of women, who are also Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries and at the same time, Kalahi-CIDSS community volunteers.  Currently, there 40 household beneficiaries of conditional cash transfer in the village. The income of women, who are into dried fish-making business, are augmented by the P1,400 cash grant from the national government that is specifically for the improvement of health and educational needs of their children.

The effectiveness of the combined government assistance and supports in livelihood initiatives for the residents of Nasidman is seen in the much improved way of life in the coastal village.

COASTAL RESTORATION INCREASE FISH YIELD

For villagers who depend on fishing as the primary source of living, the protection of coastal waters is very significant in their food security, livelihood and environment.

The Nasidman coastal waters are fished beyond its limit that the fish species of sardinella and mackerel do not even have the chance to breed, grow and replenish their stocks. Thus, in 2004, the villagers proposed the installation of 150 artificial reefs with Kalahi-CIDSS funding in 2004. After nine years, the villagers are harvesting the fruits of their discipline and dedication.  Not only did their fish yields increased but they also helped in the move to protect the marine resources of the municipality.

Rogelio Azuelo recalls that prior to the project, fishermen can only catch about one to two kilos of fish in one fishing trip, and a kilo sells at P20 to P30 only – an amount not even enough to buy a ganta of rice for his family’s meal.

“Kon may pamilya ka indi gid kaigo ang imo kita ilabi na gid kon may gina paeskwela ka nga mga bata (It is not sufficient if you have a family, more so if you have children in school),” says Azuelo. But with the project, their yield reaches five to 15 kilos of fish, especially when the abos or greyfin croacker are in abundance. Aside from tabagak (Golden Sardines), there is also an abundant stock of tanigue or narrow-barred mackerel and other species, he adds. The 57-year-old village councilor Rogelio Balsomo agrees with Azuelo and recalls that before they only used hook and line in catching fish, “Diutay lang gid amon makuha (We have a little catch).” Fishermen’s observations on the fish yield before and after the installation of artificial reefs was affirmed in the Artificial Reef Monitoring Report of the Municipal Agriculture Office.

In the April 2013 report of Agricultural Technician Ma. Theresa Rodriguez, it states, the average fish catch in Nasidman using the hook and line reached to 5-10 kilos a day or 2.7 tons per year. The average fish catch before the installation of artificial reefs is only one to two kilos per day or .5 tons per year using the same fishing gear. There is an increase in the average fish catch of 2.2 tons.

Currently, the average fish catch using gillnets posted at 10-15 kilos per day or 4 tons per year. It is much higher compared to previous years when the daily average fish catch is only one to two kilos per day or .5 tons per year. The same report confirms the presence of nine other fish species in the island after the installation of the artificial reefs. Before, only fish species like Latab (Common Silver Biddy), Lagaw (Pale finned Threadfin Bream), Oposan (Lattice Monode Bream), Aso-os (Silver Sillogo) and Tabagak abound in Nasidman. But this time, species of Kugaw (Forefinger Threadfin), Abo, Gingaw, Dalopani (Common Pony fish), Alatan (Painted Sweetlips), Baho-Ulo (Giant Trevally), Tanigue, Sapsap (Splendid Pony fish), and Lansang-Lansang (Forter’s Barracuda) also abound in the waters of Nasidman.

“Now we are using motorized banc and nets in catching fish outside the Marine Protected Area (MPA),” he says. “Daku nabulig sa amon  sang artificial reef sang Kalahi-CIDSS (The Kalahi-CIDSS artificial reef project greatly helped us),” he says, adding that aside from being able to send their children to school, the villagers are also able to repair their houses. In Barangay Nasidman, most of the houses have second floors and are made of concrete materials or mixed materials of concrete and bamboos.

THRIVING LIVELIHOOD

The villagers continue to exude strong determination to uplift their lives from coastal poverty, primarily through dried fish-making business. The process of drying fish, Balsomo describes, starts with the soaking of the fresh tabagak in salt and water solution immediately after the fishermen reach the shore. After about seven hours, they rinse the fishes in salt water and place them in kapil – a large mat-like piece of rectangular bamboo where an approximately three kilos of fish are dried under the sun. Once dried, the tabagak is segregated according to sizes, placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Manila and sold for a much higher price.

Village Kalahi-CIDSS volunteer May Babac shares how the Kalahi-CIDSS project helped improve their daily income. She remembers how fishermen have to go to the middle of the sea, even beyond the MPAs just to try their luck for a good catch.

Beaming with pride, while putting the dried fish in a wooden box, Babac says they sell the dried fish for P65 per kilo for distribution in Manila or in the local markets by the local retailers who frequent their village. Babac says their daily income can buy them rice for the whole family while the capital they received under the Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program aids them in their small business of buying fresh sardines from fishermen. She says as a mother she has to venture into dried fish making business to augment the cash grants of P1, 400 they availed from the government to further address the health and education needs of their children.

Babac’s three children,  Shara Marie, a Grade 4 pupil at the Nasidman Primary School; Almer; Grade 6 at the Barrido Elementary School and Miah, First Year high school at the Pili National High School are beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer.

ARTIFICIAL REEFS

The restoration of fish habitat coupled with discipline has made a significant effect on the coastal waters of Nasidman. Leandro Celedonio recalls the construction of the artificial reefs. The reefs are made of cement and formed into modules. The modules are loaded in a bamboo raft and dropped in the sea. He explains that each module is tied tightly and divers oversee whether they are in correct position. Bamboo twigs are added to the modules to allow the algae to grow and serve as food for the fishes and other marine life.

The 30-year-old Celedonio says the sea is their life, thus, it is imperative for them to protect the coastal waters, especially against illegal fishing. He says at first, they could not see the immediate results of the fishery management efforts implemented in the village. The fishery management efforts include compliance of fishery laws which prohibits the use of fine mesh nets and other forms of destructive fishing in protected areas between the Calabasa Island and Nasidman.

Celedonio says fishermen have to control fishing within the protected areas to protect the fish habitat. To remind them of the ban, a marker is placed in the area where there is a fishing ban. In these protected areas, he says fishing is allowed for tourism’s purposes only and fishermen have to use the hook and line instead. Every month, the Nasidman Fisher folk’ Association holds a meeting to discuss the initiatives aimed at protecting their coastal waters. It is also during these meetings when the association decides to drop additional bamboo twigs to enhance algae growth, says Celedonio.

At the end of the day, every fisherman in Nadisman agree that the village’s efforts to use traditional reef fisheries method generated positive results and fisheries management became the business of the whole village./dswd6