In this issue:

 The first general assembly of Kilusang Mangingisda, a national coalition of municipal fishers, was held last week with close to 100 municipal fishers from all over the country in attendance. In the forum held o­n the first day of the two-day assembly, a number of speakers including Assistant Secretary Segfredo Serrano spoke o­n the impact of globalization o­n the livelihood of small-scale fishers. According to Serrano, the liberalization of the fisheries sector is already being negotiated under the World Trade Organization under subsidies and countervailing measures and the agreement on non-agricultural market access or NAMA, even in the absence of a separate Fisheries Agreement. In this article, Bas Umali of Tambuyog Development Center presents the reasons why small-scale fishers stand to lose from WTO imposed trade liberalization.

You can email the author   for comments.A version of this article appeared in BusinessWorld last Monday, 14 June2004.

BY BASS UMALI