The Second Philippines Small-Scale Fisheries National Symposium (PSSFNS2) was held last 21-23 October 2025 at the Mindanao State University – Main Campus, Marawi City, with the theme, ‘From Recognition to Action: Advancing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Philippines’.
The National Consortium for the Small-Scale Fisheries Research and Development or Too Big To Ignore (TBTI) Philippines is calling for abstracts for the Second Philippines Small-Scale Fisheries National Symposium (PSSFNS2) that will take place on 21-23 October 2025 in Marawi City.
Highlights from a recent visit to Japan of the Philippines researchers as part of the project on ‘Assessing and Accelerating: Towards the Full Implementation of the FAO Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines (SSF Guidelines) in the Philippines’.
Given the reality now and the bleak future for small-scale fisheries under the regional trial court’s (RTC) ruling permitting commercial fishing in the municipal waters, justice demands that they receive more under the law. Laws and policies must recognize their disadvantaged position and must support to uplift them. This is about fairness.
“Young Futures” is a call to youth around the world, inviting them to express their thoughts and ideas about the future of the ocean, the fisheries, the coast, the communities and the society that they are part of. Check out the TBTI Philippines contributions for the ‘Young Futures’ call for 2025 World Day of Social Justice.
The First Philippines Small-Scale Fisheries National Symposium (PSSFNS1) was held on the 16-18 of October, 2024, at the University of the Philippines Visayas Iloilo City Campus with the theme, “Small-scale Fisheries in the Philippines are Too Big to Ignore”. The symposium was the first of its kind in the country that was highly focused on small-scale fisheries.
Special message from TBTI Philippines & TBTI Japan for 2025 World Day of Social Justice
The video was filmed during the week-long visit of researchers from the Philippines that are part of the project on ‘Assessing and Accelerating: Towards the Full Implementation of the FAO Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines (SSF Guidelines) in the Philippines’. The project is led by Prof. Alice Joan Ferrer, the Executive Director of TBTI Philippines.
The visit was hosted by Dr. Yinji Li, associate professor of the School of Marine Science and Technology at Tokai University and the hub coordinator of TBTI Japan.
Click on the boxes bellow to check out the highlights from the TBTI Philippines for the 2025 World Day of Social Justice.
Special message from TBTI Philippines hub coordinator Alice Ferrer for 2024 World Fisheries Day
2024 will surely be marked a major milestone for TBTI Philippines as this is year in which they organized The First Philippines Small-Scale Fisheries National Symposium (PSSFNS1), held under the theme “Small-scale Fisheries in the Philippines are Too Big to Ignore”. With a strong focus on small-scale fisheries, the three-day symposium was the first of its kind in the country, bringing together over 600 stakeholders from all levels of fisheries sector. The aim was to give attention to small-scale fisheries in the Philippines and let stakeholders contribute to creating ways to make small-scale fisheries sustainable and viable. TBTI Philippines was also successful in expanding the network: there are currently 44 member-organizations with whom the hub has a formal Memorandum of Agreement with a plan to add several new members in the near future.
The National Consortium for Small-Scale Fisheries Research and Development or Too Big To Ignore (TBTI) Philippines was launched on November 21, 2022 at the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Iloilo City Campus and via Zoom.
Established as a research network and knowledge mobilization partnership, TBTI Philippines is based at the UPV. It focuses on addressing issues and concerns affecting the viability and sustainability of small-scale fisheries in the Philippines.
During the launch, TBTI Philippines Project Leader and Dean of UPV College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer emphasized that “there is a need to organize a consortium for small-scale fisheries research and development to share resources, expertise, and facilities and develop information that will guide policies and decision-making on SSF in the country.”
“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 small-scale fisheries“, said TBTI Global Director, Dr. Ratana Chuenpagdee.
The launch also included a short sneak peek video about the TBTI Philippines Book titled ‘Portrait of Small-Scale Fishers in the Philippines’.
This book deals with these questions: Who are the small-scale fishers in the Philippines? What do they look like? What do their households look like? What is their typical day? How are they doing? How are they treated? What are their contributions? What are their challenges? This is the first book in the country that seeks to co-create answers to these questions in the form of a compilation of essays and stories on small-scale fihers in the Philippines. The aim is to shed light on the meaning of ‘small’ or ‘small-scale’ by distilling the meaning from the small-scale fishers themselves. In the process, it is giving the small-scale fishers a voice. The book features 83 fishers from 125 contributors in 61 coastal provinces and 2 coastal cities in 16 administrative regions in the country. There is a lot to learn about fishers in the book. The book is for policy makers, program managers, researchers, teachers, students, and general readers so they can have a better appreciation of the fishers and small-scale fisheries in the country. We look forward to the day when small-scale fishers are no longer labelled as poor, unrecognized, and undervalued but with their rights recognized and respected.
The ‘National Consortium for Small-Scale Fisheries Research and Development’, affectionately known as TBTI Philippines, formally signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on July 11th 2023, the World Population Day. The argument is simple – the 8 billion people of the world will need to be fed, and what is a better food if not fish from small-scale fisheries.
Under the leadership of Dr. Alice Ferrer and Dr. Harold Monteclaro, and with the great support of University of Philippines – Visayas (UPV), TBTI Philippines was formed as a network of academic institutions. The signing of the MoA was a formalization of a partnership that illustrates strong commitments from the top officials of the 31 universities – the founding members of TBTI Philippines – to support research and development for sustainable and viable small-scale fisheries in the country.
The gathering was also a celebration of the official launch of the new TBTI e-book ‘Portrait of Small-Scale Fishers in the Philippines‘. This gem of a book is a product of a major collaboration between 83 fishers and 125 contributors who interviewed the fishers and wrote down their stories.
TBTI Global Director Ratana Chuenpagdee was there for the event, together with Dr. Yinji Li, TBTI Japan Director. To read Dr. Chuenpagdee’s detail account of the event, follow the link.
Alice Joan G. Ferrer, Project Manager
Harold Monteclaro, Co-Project Manager
Pearl Aljean Santacera, Project Assistant
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: TBTI Philippines
Alice Joan G. Ferrer is a Professor 12 and Scientist III from the University of the Philippines Visayas. She is the present Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the project manager of the National Consortium for Small-Scale Fisheries Research and Development or TBTI Philippines. She is the Immediate Past President of the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS), Immediate Past Chair of Asian Fisheries and Social Science Research Network, Constitution Coordinator of Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of AFS, and a pioneer member of TBTI Global. Her publications cover topics on fisheries social science, policy analysis, impact assessment, gender, governance, climate change, and health economics.
Harold M. Monteclaro is a Professor at the Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanology, University of the Philippines Visayas and the co-project manager of TBTI Philippines. A UP Scientist, he has a strong background and interest in capture fisheries and fisheries biology, ecology and management. He is actively involved in marine fisheries research in the country and has participated in collaborative projects in the Philippines and in the region. His publications are mainly in the field of fish sensory biology and behavior, fisheries management (including gender), capture fisheries and fisheries biology.
