More than half a million small fishers in the Philippines have been availing of loans from Quedancor, the
credit arm of the Department of Agriculture. The financing scheme has been quite successful with
repayment rate at 95%. However, the occurrence of natural calamities such as typhoons; as well as pests
and diseases has affected the productivity of fisheries, thus, hindering fishers from paying and renewing
their loans. Failure to access credit could disable them to continue venturing on fishing activities and
could eventually jeopardize the welfare of their entire household. The inability of creditors to pay their
loans and meet their obligations also impair, to a large extent, the financial operation and viability of the
lending institutions. This study analyzes the natural risks and risk management practices of these fishers.
It recommends mitigation mechanisms to minimize the impact of natural calamities. Moreover, it
suggests a bridge financing scheme that can be an effective and efficient instrument to enable fishers to
carry on their livelihood activities and support their families_ basic needs and slowly recover from their
losses.