JSPES, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2016)
pp. 3–27

Profile of an Aquaculture-dependent Community in a Tropical Country

Rosalina Palanca-Tan1

Department of Economics,
Ateneo de Manila University

Aquaculture has made up for the stagnating and even dwindling fish catch from commercial and municipal fisheries in the Philippines and many other developing countries in Asia. Aquaculture has provided the rapidly growing population a supply of fish at relatively stable and affordable prices. This paper sketches the profile of a small lake (in-land) aquaculture-dependent community in the Philippines. Through a survey of 134 households and intensive interviews with individual fisherfolk, community leaders and government officials, the study reveals that fish harvests in Lake Palakpakin, a typical small-scale in-land aquaculture- dependent community in the Philippines, are way below potential. It is also found that there is wide variability in productivity and profitability among fish cages run under different operator-caretaker relational set-ups, with the greatest yield and profitability realized from fish cages where operator and caretaker are one and the same. Further, the results suggest that the scope for advancement of income and livelihood of the community is constrained by the limited access of fisherfolk to working capital financing options as well as poor lake water quality due to inadequate municipal wastewater treatment.