Improve nutrition and livelihoods for small-scale fishers and coastal communities through post-harvest interventions in the Philippines

Global fish loss due to discards and processing is estimated at over a third of wild-capture fisheries production. Simultaneously nearly a third of the global population suffers from food insecurity while more than 40% cannot afford a healthy diet.

While post-harvest loss is a global problem, it is significantly worse in lower-income countries like the Philippines where more than two million small-scale fishers play a crucial role in ensuring food security, supporting sustainable livelihoods, and reducing poverty. The problem and impacts are larger and more urgent for small-scale fishers, who face limited access to capital and technology. Estimates of post-harvest fish losses in small-scale fishery value chains range anywhere from 20% to 75%, demonstrating the difficulty in quantifying the problem. In the Philippines, where such catch is almost entirely used for domestic consumption, and post-harvest loss is high, this is especially relevant.

In 2024, Oceana commissioned a study, co-designed by CenSAII, into post-harvest fish loss in selected coastal communities along Samar Sea (Samar) and San Bernardino Strait (Northern Samar) – among the richest fishing grounds of the Philippines. The research team used the Informal Fish Loss Assessment Method (IFLAM), with primary data directly collected from stakeholders or participants along the fish distribution chain through workshops and focus-group discussions.

Initial estimates in the study put average post-harvest fish losses in our target areas (representative communities in the two provinces) at 40% - that is, 40% of the catch by volume is subject to physical and quality loss. These locales, in the provinces of Samar and Northern Samar, top the list of areas in the Philippines with malnutrition and high poverty incidence. Most households in Samar (60.5%) and Northern Samar (75.1%) experienced food insecurity during 2018, well above the national average of 54%.

We are using this information to inform funding proposals from local fishing communities to the Philippine government for targeted post-harvest interventions, to reduce fishing pressure on sardines, increase local incomes, and retain more fish within the communities for consumption.