The main objective of this study was to assess the attitude of the communities on the implementation of the closed fishing season policy. The study was conducted in Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Norte.
Overall more workers than fishers are knowledgeable about the closed fishing season policy. This is primarily due to the fact that workers more than fishers are affected by the closed fishing season policy. Workers, except for those providing maintenance to the sardine factories, stopped working from December until February each year since 2011 when the policy was enforced while fishers can continue to catch fish throughout the year.
The study also showed that majority of fishers and workers knew the closed fishing season policy. However, less than half and about two-thirds of the factory workers understood the details regarding the months covered, prohibited gears, and the penalty for the violations. The lack of detailed information and understanding about the policy were due to the very limited number of respondents who attended the consultation. For municipal fishers, their source of information were their co-fishers and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) while for workers, they learned the policy from the sardine factory, BFAR, and television.
Majority of the fishers and workers believed that the closed fishing season policy is the best way to increase the fish stock. This was also confirmed during the focus group discussions with fishers and workers. However, there is a need to provide employment opportunities during the closed season for the workers. There were reports that livelihood assistance can be availed, however, the fishers and workers were unable to prepare project proposals which are required for the livelihood assistance. It is also recommended that major stakeholders like fishers and workers who will be directly affected by regulations like the closed season policy should be consulted at the beginning so that its negative impact, loss of job during the period, should be responded properly not only by the local government units but also by the different national government agencies. Effective fisheries management requires a mixture of support from the national and local government units as well as the private sector in order to work well (Hannesson 1998). Hannesson (1998) further added that in the future, communities should be able to take the lead in local management, and government agencies will grow into trusted partners by coordinating the consistent application of national fisheries policies.