has the highest fisherfolk population (253,000) which accounts for 13 percent of the total. However, as a sector, small or municipal fisherfolk rank among the poorest of the poor, where 34.3 percent live below the poverty line – a figure close to the poverty incidence among farmers at 34.0 percent. This was much higher than the country’s poverty incidence of 21.6 percent for 2015. Fisherfolk and farmers consistently registered as the two sectors with the highest poverty incidence in 2006, 2009 and 2012 (PSA, 2017). Fisherfolk issues and the need for tenure reforms. As early as the 1980s, there were reports that fishery resources and fish catch were being depleted due to continued environmental degradation of the coastal system. Coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses were all degraded, contributing to low fish catch for fishers. The causes included destructive fishing practices, siltation from upland areas, poor agricultural practices and inappropriate land use activities in coastal watersheds (Ferrer, et. al., 1996). Fisherfolk communities continued to be marginalized as shown by low incomes and limited capital for improving fishing gears, venturing into fisheries-related livelihoods other than catching; markets controlled by few middlemen which affected prices of the produce; limited access to basic services; lack of tenurial instruments that would protect settlements of coastal dwellers; malnutrition and lack of health facilities; and, violence and discrimination against women (non-valuation of productive work or contribution to fishing or farming, multiple burden, lack of opportunities for development). Enforcement of fishery laws and policies has been weak resulting in intrusion of commercial fishing vessels inside the municipal waters; poaching in marine protected areas; rampant use of illegal fishing gears and practices such as dynamite and poisonous/noxious substances; continued conversion of mangrove forest into fishpond areas; and, illegal wildlife trade. Environmental degradation and related issues further plague the sector. These problems include among others: conversion of coastal habitats for tourism and development-related facilities; siltation due to soil erosion; overfishing; and, destructive fishing practices. In 1994, several CSOs and fisherfolk organizations initiated the crafting of a new Fisheries Code to address issues such as overfishing, lack of tenurial security, and resource degradation due to illegal and destructive fishing. 90 Status of Land and Resource Tenure Reform in the Philippines 2018