A total of 1,824 fisherfolk who could not venture out into the sea due to risks posed by the prevailing northeast monsoon or “amihan” received food packs from the city government during three days of distribution activities from Feb. 13-15.

Mayor Geraldine B. Rosal said in an interview on Thursday that the distribution of relief goods materialized after the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) granted their request for food assistance for fisherfolk experiencing difficulties in their livelihood because of the prevailing weather conditions at the Albay Gulf.

The recipient fishers are those enrolled in the Registry System for Basic Sectors on Agriculture of the Department of Agriculture. All are residents of Legazpi’s coastal villages along the Albay Gulf coastline, where big waves and strong sea currents are perennially experienced at the height of the northeast monsoon.

“Since the northeast monsoon is forecast to last for more weeks, the city government will also allocate funding to buy similar relief assistance to be distributed to our affected fishermen,” Rosal said.

The distributed relief assistance included 5 kg. of rice and assorted canned goods.

Sheila Nas, chief of the City Agriculture Office (CAO), said in a separate interview that aside from the distribution of food items, her office regularly distributes tilapia and “bangus” or milkfish fingerlings to fishers who own fishponds.

“CAO is conducting a series of seminars for the fishermen regarding the proper use of new technology for fishing activities,” Nas added.

She noted that her office is implementing a color-coding scheme on the fishers’ motorized fishing boats for easy identification as to which barangays these vessels are from.

“We assign a particular color for each barangay where our fishermen are residing. By this scheme, we could also monitor their fishing activities, whether allowed or not,” Nas added.

Meanwhile, DSWD 5 (Bicol) has distributed PHP911,992 worth of family food packs to the families of fisherfolk and farmers affected by the effects of a shear line in end-January.

The latest to receive were households in the towns of Daet, Camarines Norte and Cabusao, Camarines Sur.

The DSWD-5, through its Disaster Response Management Division, continues to monitor communities that are economically affected by the bad weather. (PNA)