More than 200 enumerators took part in a comprehensive hands-on training and simulation activity during the National Training on Boats and Gears Inventory (BGI) under the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency (FishCoRe) Project on September 16-19, 2025 at Richmonde Hotel in Eastwood, Quezon City.
The national initiative aims to establish the fishing capacity by assessing the fishing effort of Fisheries Management Areas 6 and 9. It is one of the priority activities identified under the FishCoRe Project geared towards sustainable management of the country’s fisheries.
One of the main focuses of the training was to enhance the capabilities of field implementers, particularly those working in FMA 6 and 9. These areas will serve as pilot sites for implementing the improved inventory system, which will eventually support the implementation of more sustainable and locally relevant Fisheries Management Plans. The training also aimed to build the capacity of the National Project Management Office (NPMO), the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), and the National Stock Assessment Program – Regional Field Offices (NSAP – RFO). These agencies participated in specialized sessions on rigorous data validation techniques to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the information collected.
To fully equip participants with the necessary tools, knowledge, and standardized methodologies, they underwent various practical activities designed to mirror real-life data collection scenarios. These included sessions on fishing gear identification, boat and gear measurement to support efficient and accurate data gathering, familiarization with the BGI forms, simulation settings with mock data collection and recording exercises, work planning sessions, and a review of standardized reporting protocols to ensure consistent and credible documentation across all covered regions.
By strengthening the link between data collection and fisheries policy-making, the BGI training is essential in ensuring that future management measures are firmly grounded in evidence. The technical skills acquired by enumerators and implementers will foster a deeper understanding of how accurate data contributes to assessing the current fishing effort, which is critical information to pair with stock status (determined by NSAP) in order to determine fishing capacity and develop responsive management strategies.
