The Economics and Statistics Section (Fisheries Information Division) is the unit of the Philippines Fisheries Commission responsible for statistics, and in December 1968 it comprised seven permanent officers. A few more officers are employed casually mainly tabulating monthly Fish Caught Reports, submitted by operators of commercial fishing vessels.
The tabulating of Fish Caught Reports has been the major task of the section, and the statistical tables derived from these reports occupy the larger part of the Commission's statistical yearbook. The yearbook which is entitled “Fisheries Statistics of the Philippines (calendar year)” contains the official statistics of the Fisheries Commission.
Since the 1966/67 budget, provision has been made for one junior statistician to be assigned to each of the eight Fisheries Regional Offices, and for fifty-five statistical aides to be assigned to the various Fisheries Stations under the Fisheries Regional Offices. The junior statistician is the supervisor of the statistical aides in his Region, the statistical aides being responsible for the field work.
For the following reasons some difficulties were encountered in implementing the new surveys proposed by the expert.
Only one junior statistician (out of the eight) and only six statistical aides (out of fifty-five) were male, the others being mostly young women who could not be fully utilized for field work, especially for night work in connection with fish landing surveys.
Many of the statistical personnel did not have a proper background for statistical work.
Distribution of field statistical personnel between Fisheries Regions was not balanced.
There was a general shortage of funds to cover current expenses in the Philippine Fisheries Commission especially toward the end of every quarter. As statistical surveys call for regular field trips by field workers, the shortage of funds for travel expenses and allowances created a serious problem for the smooth implementation of surveys.
The situation can be summarized as follows:
Commercial Fishing Vessels. There were about 2 400 commercial fishing vessels (defined in Act 4963 as a fishing vessel of more than 3 tons gross) operating in 1967. The statistics on these vessels are compiled from the Fish Caught Reports (see Section 2.1) which are submitted monthly by the appropriate operators to facilitate the collection by the Fisheries Commission of a fee of P2.00 for each ton of fish caught (P1.00 = US$.15). For statistical purposes, the Fisheries Commission corrected the expectedly low catch figures reported by multiplying them by a raising factor of 4, which had no statistical basis.
Marine Municipal Fisheries. The marine municipal fisheries are defined as all marine fisheries excepting the commercial fisheries. In other words, the marine municipal fisheries is the marine fisheries in which no vessel is utilized or a vessel of not more than three tons gross. The number of marine fishing families was estimated at about 350 000 by a newly introduced survey, the identification Survey of Marine Barrios.
The only existing series of annual total catch data for this fisheries was originated in 1951, when the annual total catch was estimated on the basis of reports from some six municipalities. Since that time the catch for each successive year was calculated by multiplying the figure for each previous year by an assumed annual growth rate. The estimates of total catch for recent years are as a consequence most probably subject to a large margin of error.
Fishpond Fisheries. Most of the fishponds in the Philippines were developed by clearing mangrove swamps. They contain brackish water and are used for milkfish culture. The total area of fishpond in 1967 was approximately 140 000 ha.
The area data on government - leased fishponds are relatively reliable because they are derived from the license records. Similar data on privately owned fishponds, which are based on a survey carried out by the Bureau of Fisheries (now the Philippine Fisheries Commission), were compiled around 1951 and had remained unchanged since that time. The productivity of fishponds by province was estimated in 1958 by the officers of the Estuarine Fisheries Division of the Fisheries Commission on the basis of limited ancilliary information and there has been no change since that year.
Inland Fisheries other than Fishponds. It is not apparent that the catch data for these fisheries were included in the annual total catch data submitted in the Statistical Yearbook. A series of limnological surveys of Laguna de Bay, the biggest lake of the Philippines, were carried out during 1961 to 1963 but the resulting data on catch were not presented in the Yearbook.
Fishery Census. No fishery census has ever been taken in the Philippines. The Economic Census taken in 1961 included fisheries, but the results were of limited value since only licensed fishing establishments (and licenses are issued by municipalities according to local rules) were covered.
At December 1968 the progress of the surveys introduced by the expert for improving fishery statistics was as follows:
2.3.1 Commercial Fisheries
Fish Landing Surveys. The expert proposed surveys for about ten main fish landing places to permit the calculation of Regional factors for raising the catch data obtained from the Fish Caught Reports.
By the end of 1968 only three places, Navotas, Bamorties and Mercedes, were being surveyed.
Computer Tabulation of Fish Caught Report Data for 1968. The tabulation of IBM electronic computer of Fish Caught Report data for 1968 was proposed by the expert. The contract between the Philippine Fisheries Commission and the Philippine IBM Company was prepared and some preparatory work was completed by December 1968.
2.3.2 Marine Municipal Fisheries
Identification Survey of Marine Barrios. This survey was proposed by the expert to provide a frame of marine barrios (communities) from which barrios could be selected for a survey to estimate monthly catch; see Catch Survey of Marine Barrios, below. By December 1968 the survey was complete in Fisheries Regions I, II, III and IV. In the remaining four Fisheries Regions, this survey was only partially implemented.
Catch Survey of Marine Barrios. The object of the Catch Survey of Marine Barrios is the estimation of the monthly total catch of marine municipal fisheries by Fisheries Regions using a sample of about 200 barrios for the whole country. The complete frames of marine barrios for Fisheries Regions I and III were provided by the Identification Survey of Marine Barrios by the middle of 1968; the Catch Survey was initiated for these Regions during the second half of that year.
2.3.3 Fishpond Fisheries
Area Survey of Fishponds. The Area Survey of Fishponds was proposed by the expert for the purpose of up-dating the area data of privately owned fishponds. The response from municipal treasurers, in whose offices records on this subject are maintained, had reached about 50 percent by December 1968.
Productivity Survey of Fishponds. The Productivity Survey of Fishponds was planned for implementation after completion of the related Area Survey. Its purpose is to determine the productivity of fishponds per hectare per year by province from about 200 sample fishponds. Since the Area Survey was still incomplete by December 1968, the Productivity Survey had not been initiated.
2.3.4 Inland Fisheries other than Fishponds
Fishery Survey of Laguna de Bay. The Fishery Survey of Laguna de Bay was proposed by the expert to provide fishery statistics on the biggest lake in the Philippines. The survey consisted of two stages, the first called the Listing Survey of Duck Farms and Fishing Families (from which a frame of duck farms and fishing families is to be provided for the second stage), and the second, the Duck Feed and Fish Catch Survey (from which the monthly consumption of snails and shrimps by ducks and the monthly fish catch are to be estimated). The Listing Survey was carried out during September to November 1968, but the Duck Feed and Fish Catch Survey was not started.
Inland Fishery Survey. The Inland Fishery Survey was proposed by the expert to furnish statistical information on the remaining inland fisheries. It requires that field staff send annually a completed survey form for each municipality to the pertinent Regional Director of Fisheries. The survey forms were sent to the field in January 1969.
2.3.5 The 1970 Census of Fisheries
Cooperation with the Census and Statistics Bureau. The expert and his counterpart assisted with the preparatory work for the 1970 Census of Fisheries which is to be undertaken by the Census and Statistics Bureau for the first time in this country. Two questionnaires, a Fishing Establishment Questionnaire and a Fishing Household Questionnaire were designed by the expert and were tested by pilot survey. A listing form, the questionnaires and the instructions were almost finalized by December 1968.
The Commissioner of Fisheries decided in a meeting with Regional Directors held in August 1968 that the slow implementation of new surveys was mainly due to the shortage of male statistical aides and that all the field staff of the Commission (e.g. fishery offices, fishery agents, technical personnel and extension workers) should be employed on statistical duties. A document entitled “Guide for Fisheries Statistical Surveys” was, upon the request of the Commission, consequently produced by the expert for distribution to the Regional Directors during January 1969.
