Campaign to Save the Sardines goes on a Zampen Tour
The team behind Lana Sardinas went on a week-long, region-wide caravan to spread the word of the urgent need to save the sardines of the Sulu-Celebes Sea.
From July 14 to July 18, the team mounted four shows in three towns. In Ipil, the team staged Lana Sardinas at the Marcelo Spinola School and at Marian College to an appreciative crowd of high school students. In Dipolog, the team performed at the Zamboanga del Norte Sports and Culture Convention Center on July 16. The next day, the team were at the Jose Rizal Memorial State University Gym.
Lana Sardinas is an information campaign advocating public involvement in the protection of the waters that surround the Zamboanga Peninsula and its marine resources, especially sardines. The campaign consisted of a musical puppet 
show, an illustrated storybook, and an animated video. The team included as well fishery experts who addressed questions of the audience during open forums: Eunice Gasmin, Pedling Munap, Dr. Rosalio Tenorio, Romeo De Guzman, Roberto Valerio.
The Lana Sardinas information campaign is a project of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) with funding from Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The campaign was designed and coordinated by Yen Blanco Delgado, chair of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Department of Communication. The team consisted of Ateneo professors and students. The musical puppet show was created by Teatro Atenista, in coordination with the Ateneo Center for Visual Arts with Kiko Miranda as playwright, puppet designer and director. The book was written by literature professor May Maravilles and illustrated by Department of Communication laboratory staff Dominic Cabatit. The animated video on the other hand was created by two animation lecturers, Bob Oquias and Ced Zabala.
Zamboanga Peninsula is the sardines capital of the Philippines. Over 90% of all canned and bottled sardines produced in the country come from the region, Zamboanga City and Dipolog City in particular. Of the 12 sardine canneries in the country, 11 are in Zamboanga City. Dipolog is also the biggest producer of bottled sardines. Sardine fishing and canning are multi-billion peso industries, providing jobs to over 30,000 workers.
Researches have shown that the sardine stocks of the Sulu-Celebes Sea is under stress. The reasons could be overfishing, climate change, and pollution. Amongst the interventions the Lana Sardinas encouraged the public to do were observance of the fishing ban, reporting to authorities of any destructive fishing practices, as well as avoidance of any activity that pollute the water.
