The National Statistics Office (NSO) expects to interview about 1.18 million municipal and commercial fishing operators and about 500 thousand aquaculture operators nationwide, when the Census of Fisheries (CF) is taken this September. At the start of the CF, NSO will also be moving toward the final half of the nationwide census-taking of the Censuses of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) 2002.

Conducted every ten years, CAF is a large-scale government operation that gathers data and generates the latest statistics on agriculture and fisheries. Census-taking for CAF 2002 is being administered in two batches, with the Census of Agriculture conducted earlier from March 3 to April 5, 2003.

CF aims to find out the number and distribution of households and enterprises engaged in fishing and aquaculture. Likewise, it seeks to determine the structure and characteristics of fishing and aquafarm operations. Information derived from the CF serve as bases for sampling frame for other statistical undertakings and supply basic data for development planning.

CF enumeration will run from September 1 to 29, 2003. About 5,000 enumerators, 900 team supervisors and 150 census area supervisors will be fielded for the undertaking. Over 5.67 million households in 13,000 sample barangays will be covered in the census-taking.

As part of the preparation for the CF, census-takers from NSO's ranks will undergo comprehensive multi-level training from July 16 to August 29. Training will cascade in batches from the National Task Force, to the regional and provincial levels and down to city/municipal levels. Experts from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will serve as resource persons for the training.

A standard questionnaire on the household's fishing activities will be used by the enumerators in interviewing the fishing and/or aquaculture operator in the household during the CF. NSO Administrator Carmelita Ericta is urging the respondents to provide correct and complete answers during the census-taking for the government to derive accurate information. A CF interview takes about 20 minutes.

All individual information provided by the respondents shall be held strictly confidential, as guaranteed by Section 4 of the Commonwealth Act of 591. Specifically, CA 591 provides that any individual census report cannot be used for purposes of taxation, investigation or law enforcement. Penalties ranging from fine, dismissal to imprisonment will be imposed on violators of this law of confidentiality.

The public is being hereby warned to give out information only to authorized enumerators. These enumerators will be bearing identification cards signed by the NSO Administrator Ericta.

SUPPORT CAF 2002! Senso ng Agrikultura at Pangisdaan, Gabay Sa Ating Pag-unlad!

Source:   National Statistics Office
                  Manila, Philippines
 
Page last updated:   July 16, 2003