The National Consortium for Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) Research and Development or Too Big To Ignore (TBTI) Philippines and the TBTI Philippines Book 'Portrait of Small-Scale Fishers in the Philippines were launched on November 21, 2022 at the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Iloilo City Campus and via Zoom.

TBTI Philippines is a research network and knowledge mobilization partnership based in UPV that will focus on addressing issues and concerns affecting the viability and sustainability of SSF in the Philippines. 

In the welcome message by the UPV Chancellor Dr. Clement Camposano, the importance of collaboration and partnership to effectively extend support to SSF, one of the marginalized sectors in the country, were emphasized. 

“Collaboration and partnership are major thrusts. Our hope is that, through this, we could grow together as a sector and that we will be able to position ourselves in a way that will matter most to the people who really need our support, the marginalized sectors,” said Dr. Camposano.

TBTI Global Project Director Dr. Ratana Chuenpagdee underscored in her message the need for network building to address the challenges in achieving sustainability for the SSF.

“We all could agree that more of this type of organization and network building will be needed considering the kind of challenges that we continue to face as we try to achieve sustainability, especially for SSF. They are a valuable sector and make great contributions, but most of the time, we don’t know enough about them”, said Dr. Chuenpagdee.

“I am excited, happy, and proud to be part of this. I would love an opportunity to visit the Philippines again soon so we can talk about what we can do together. Eventually, we’ll be able to link TBTI Philippines with other TBTI hubs worldwide, like the one in Japan, Bangladesh, and other parts of the world that are popping up, including in Latin America and the Caribbean”, Dr. Chuenpagdee added.

According to the TBTI Philippines Project Leader and Dean of UPV College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer, information gaps exist on the country’s SSF despite many small studies done. One example is the lack of reliable data on the number of SSF fishers in the country.  

“What we see when we go to the field is a big number of SSF. They are important because they contribute to our food and nutrition security. They should not be ignored. That's why the name — Too Big To Ignore”, said Dr. Ferrer.

“To respond to this, there is a need to organize a consortium for SSF R&D to share resources, expertise, and facilities and develop information that will guide policies and decision-making on SSF in the country”, Dr. Ferrer also noted.

In the responses delivered by the President of Biliran Province State University, Dr. Victor Cañezo, Jr., and President of Central Philippines State University Dr. Aladino Moraca, both stressed that the collaborative sharing of knowledge, expertise, and innovation would be vital to the advancement of the country’s SSF and their communities.

The 7-minute Sneak Peek Video of the TBTI Philippines Book titled “Portrait of Small-Scale Fishers in the Philippines” was also launched.

Dr. Ferrer, one of the editors, spoke about the book which seeks to co-create answers to the questions: Who are the small-scale fisheries in the Philippines? What do they look like? What do their households look like? What is a typical day of small-scale fishers? How are they doing? How are they treated? What are their contributions? What are their challenges?

“It aims to shed light on the meaning of ‘small’ or ‘small-scale’ by distilling the meaning from the SSF themselves”, Dr. Ferrer added.

There are currently 60 contributions received nationwide and more are coming. The book will be launched in time for the World Ocean’s Day Celebration in June 2023.

Some of the contributors to the book gave their personal responses. According to the Director of the Office of Continuing Education and Extension Services (OCEANeS) of Mindanao State University - Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography, Prof. Richard Muallil, “it is about time to highlight and take seriously the plight of our SSF. It is also about time that they get the support and attention that they deserve.”

“This has inspired me a lot. May this also serve as an inspiration to all of you as we work together for the SSF who work very hard not only for themselves but also to ensure that we have fish to eat on our tables”, said Dr. Emma Ballad, Chief, Regional Fisheries Inspection and Quarantine Service, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Regional Office 02, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

“This provides all the needed rationale for us to provide serious attention through research, development, and extension collaboration activities to SSF in our country. It is high time that we appreciate that small is beautiful”, said Dr. Raul Bradecina, President, Partido State University.

In the closing message of UPV Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension, TBTI Philippines Co-Project Leader, TBTI Philippines Book Editor, Dr. Harold Monteclaro, multidisciplinarity in addressing the problems concerning the SSF was highlighted.

“TBTI Philippines is not just a group of fisheries professionals. It is actually a group of like-minded people who wish to address the problems of the fisheries sector. We very much welcome the participation from other disciplines like economics, management, engineering, food science, humanities, computer science, etcetera because we understand and recognize that many of the problems that we are facing now in the fisheries sector are multidisciplinary in nature. We need all the help that we can get to address these problems”, said Dr. Monteclaro.

The launching of the 845-page Proceeding of last year’s Sixth International Conference for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (ICFAS 6) and Asian Fisheries Social Science Research Network Forum One (AFSSRN F1) with the theme “The Science and Art of Fisheries and Aquaculture: Life Above and Below Waters to highlight the synergy between science and arts and the transdisciplinary in fisheries and aquaculture.” was also included in the 3-part program. The proceeding covered the presentations in the plenaries, regular oral sessions, regular poster sessions, student competitions, special sessions, special event, regular session syntheses, messages delivered during the opening and closing ceremonies, and Q & A portion of sessions. Members of the TBTI participated in this conference with Dr. Svein Jentoft of UiT - The Arctic University of Norway as the conference keynote speaker and his keynote address was titled 'Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries Are Also About Communities'. Dr. Yinji Li of Tokai University, Japan, was one of the panelists in the Social Scientists’ Assembly with her talk on 'The Meaning of Social Science and Transdisciplinarity in Securing Small-Scale Fisheries Sustainability'. Moreover, five chapters of the TBTI book on 'Blue Justice: Small-Scale Fisheries in a Sustainable Ocean Economy' were presented in the Blue Justice Session of the conference.