Financial literacy and resiliency
To shift to more sustainable fishing, fishers needed to build up their savings to cushion their households against crises and shocks. Savings clubs were organized across the municipalitiy using the Village Savings and Loan Association model. After 9 months, 4 clubs with 95 members had been formed and clubs had an average of Php 3200 saved per member.
VSLA approach has strong safeguards to promote accountaibility among members; Word of mouth encouraged other fishing households to join.
Wives of the fishermen are critical to building household savings and must be reached out to. It is also important to share stories of what the savings have been used for, such as medical emergencies, or tiding family over during days when weather is bad for fishing, to inspire each other to continue.