Brief Profile of Mercedes, Camarines Norte

The Municipality of Mercedes is one of the coastal communities that lies along the coast of San Miguel Bay and is one of the twelve (12) municipalities that comprises the province of Camarines Norte. It is bounded on the southwestern portion by the town of Basud and partly by the province of Camarines Sur. The Pacific Ocean lies on the town's northern portion, while San Miguel Bay and Daet are found on the eastern and western portions respectively. It has a total land area of 15,510 hectares and is composed of 26 barangays.

Based on the National Statistics Office (NSO), as of 2000, Mercedes has a total population of 41,713. In terms of the municipality's income, out of the 295 households randomly surveyed in 1991, 44.41% or 131 households earn only PhP1,000 and below.

Barangay Project Sites

Fisherfolk Issues in the Area

Majority of the community members rely on fishing as their main source of livelihood, which is due to their proximity to San Miguel Bay. Relying on fishing alone, however, does not enable them to provide for their family's daily needs. Based on the study conducted by ISO, about 80% of the households in the three island barangays are considered household fishers with a monthly income of PhP4,663 (ISO PCRA, 2000). This amount is way below the regional poverty threshold of PhP 6,412.00 pegged by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) for a family of six.

Majority of the small fishers in the area are highly dependent on the use of traditional fishing techniques such as gill net (pangke), hook and line (banwit), fish trap (bobo), fish corral (baklad), spear (pana), and others. Their fishing grounds are limited within five (5) kilometers from the coastline of Mercedes.

Hence, they are the most affected by the intrusion of commercial fishing vessels within the 15-kilometer municipal waters. Although this is considered a violation of the Philippine Fisheries Act of 1998, the encroachment of commercial fishers in the municipal waters remains rampant. This diminishes fish catch of the small-scale fishermen, thus, to increase their catch, they use illegal fishing methods such as dynamite and sodium cyanide fishing, thereby, jeopardizing not only their health, but also the viability of their fishing grounds.

Beneficiaries

The following are the direct and indirect beneficiaries of the CNIB Project:

Direct Beneficiaries:

• The Inter-Island Management Council (IIMC), is a barangay-based People's Organization (PO) concerned with the protection of marine resources in the local community. To date, it has 552 individual members.

• The Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC) receives technical assistance and from the program.

Indirect Beneficiaries:

• The Local Government Unit of the Municipality of Mercedes

• The Municipality of Mercedes and nearby municipalities of the San Miguel Bay area. The total population of Meredes is 41,713 for the year 2000. (Mercedes Coastal Resource Management Plan 2005-2009)