Coastal fisheries in the Philippines and most other ASEAN countries have been over-fished and the coastal (subsistence) fisher-men have remained the poorest of the poor. By helping these fishermen become partly seafarmers (oyster or mussel farmers) would reduce fishing effort on the already over-exploited coastal resources. Finding alter-native occupations for this sector of society has been a serious problem of fishery management.
The 1982 Seafarming Study concluded that there are sufficient suitable sites in the country to provide space for over 45 000 oyster farms and about 50 000 mussel farms.
The capital costs involved per farm are not high. Financing assistance to be extended to small fishermen for this purpose should not be difficult to obtain since the farming methods are known and proven to be profitable.
Oysters and mussels are highly nutritious food items and have export potential provided export quality standards are met.
