In accordance with a request from the Government of the Philippines for the services of a fishery statistician under the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) appointed Mr. Tsugiharu Shimura to this post in June 1966 for an initial assignment of seven months. The post was initially extended for twelve months in 1967 and then for a further twelve months in 1968.
The expert served in the Philippines under the Technical Assistance Programme from 2 June 1966 to the end of 1968, excepting for the period January to April 1968 during which time, while still based in the Philippines, he was acting FAO Regional Fishery Statistician and was concerned with assisting the Government of Taiwan with the design of a fishery Manpower Survey. He is still serving in the Philippines continuing the same work under the aegis of the UNDP Special Fund Project for Philippine Deep Sea Fishing Development; this last assignment terminates at the end of 1969. This report covers the broken period from 2 June 1966 to the end of 1968.
The expert's terms of reference were “to advise and assist the Government of the Philippines on the rapid development of an adequate national fishery industries, which would provide promptly and accurately the basic data needed for better planning and implementation of fishery development programme in the country and for other analysis and policy making purposes”.
Dr. Tadashi Yamamoto, then FAO Regional Fishery Statistician in Bangkok, visited the Philippines for one month during July-August 1965 to review the status of fishery statistics. He prepared an overall improvement plan and his detailed proposals on the survey methods to be employed were of great use to the expert.
During his assignment in the Philippines, the expert worked in conjunction with the Philippine Fisheries Commission. The former Acting Commissioner, Mr. Santos B. Rasalan and the present Commissioner, Mr. Andres M. Mane gave full support to his activities.
The statistical work in the Philippine Fisheries Commission is mainly carried out in the Economics and Statistics Section of the Fisheries Information Division and Mr. Jose de la Cruz, the Chief of Section, was assigned to the expert as the government counterpart. Mr. de la Cruz and the officer of his Section along with all the field staff co-operated wholeheartedly in the implementation of new statistical surveys. Further assistance was also readily given by Mr. Justo R. Montemayor, Chief of the Fisheries Information Division, and Mr. Candido Mr. Ramos, Economist in the Economics and Statistics Section.
Mrs. Medina N. Delmendo, Chief of the Freshwater Fisheries Division assisted with the implementation of the Fishery Statistical Survey of Laguna de Bay. Dr. Tito A. Mijares Director of the Census and Statistics. Bureau, proposed and ensured close co-operation between the Bureau, the Commission and the expert, for the preparation of the 1970 Census for Fisheries. The officers of the Bureau concerned contributed fully to the preparatory work for the Census, accepting the expert's proposals on the various aspects of the census work.
The expert performed the following work:
The Philippine Fisheries Commission carried out the following work:
The Bureau of the Census and Statistics carried out the following work:
The expert worked in close contact with Mr. Einar Kvara, Project Manager of the United Nations Special Fund/Philippine Deep Sea Fishing Development Project.
The expert is greatly indebted to the many people who collaborated with him during his assignment and who offered their helpful advice and assistance. He would like to record his especial thanks to the former Commissioner of Fisheries, Mr. Santos. B. Rasalan; the present Commissioner of Fisheries, Mr. Andres M. Mane; his counterpart, Mr. Jose Q. de la Cruz; the Chief of the Fisheries Information Division, Mr. Justo R. Montemayor; the Economist of the Economics and Statistics Section, Mr. Candido M. Ramos; the Chief of the Freshwater Fisheries Division, Mrs. Medina N. Delmendo; the Director of the Census and Statistics Bureau, Dr. Tito A. Mijares; and the Chief Statistical Coordinator of the Bureau, Mrs. Lagrimas V. Abalos.
