6.0 Tenure reform in fisheries and aquatic resources F isheries is an important industry and a source of livelihood in the Philippines. The country has 2,200,000 square kilometers of territorial waters including its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and a coastline length of 36,289 kilometers. Territorial waters consist of 266,000 square kilometers of coastal area, and 1,934,000 square kilometers of oceanic area. The coral reef area (within 10-20 fathoms where reef fisheries occur) covers some 27,000 square kilometers. Inland waters where small-scale fishers are also located, include swamplands, lakes, rivers and reservoirs that cover a combined area of 5,460 square kilometers (or 546,000 hectares). In 2015, the country ranked 9th among the top fish producing countries in the world, and 11th in aquaculture production (BFAR, 2015). The Fisheries Profile of 2015 published by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) shows that municipal fisheries account for 26 percent of total fish production. Municipal fisheries refer to fishing activities in municipal waters (inland waters or within 15-kilometer from the coasts) that use fishing vessels of three gross tons or less, or fishing not requiring the use of fishing vessels (Fisheries Code, Sections 52-53). Meanwhile, aquaculture and commercial fisheries accounted for 51 percent and 23 percent, respectively, of total fish production. Overall, the fishing industry accounts for some 1.3 percent of the country’s GDP. The 2002 Census for Fisheries showed that the municipal fisheries sector accounted for 85 percent of all fishing operators nationwide. The rest (15 percent) are employed in the commercial and aquaculture sectors. The latest figures from the Fisheries Registration System of BFAR meanwhile show that there are some 1.93 million registered municipal fishers and some 202,000 registered boats as of April 2018. Municipal fisherfolk are distributed fairly evenly across all regions of the country, based on their respective fishery resources and populations, except for inland regions (CAR and NCR). Among all regions, the ARMM Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) 89