At least 1,500 fisher folks in Batangas Province are provided temporary employment by the Department of Social Welfare and Development under the Sustainable Livelihood Program. The said employment is offered during the close season / fishing ban in Balayan Bay.

Of the said number, 295 are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and 983 are Listahanan poor households.

The fisher folks are engaged in various cash-for-work activities including the clearing of canals and roads, coastal cleanup and assistance to the Bantay Dagat in the monitoring of the fishing ban. The said participants are from coastal communities in five municipalities along the Balayan Bay including Balayan, Bauan, Calaca, Calatagan and Lemery.

The cash-for-work provided by the DSWD is under the Cash for Building Livelihood Assets (CBLA) scheme, which is a community mobilization strategy in developing physical and natural assets to increase the livelihood gains in the locality and also engage the participants in short-term income generating activities to help them meet their daily needs.

The close season of fishing activities in the Balayan Bay is an ordinance of the provincial government of Batangas to give way for fish reproduction and increase the catch of fisher folks for the rest of the year. The close season runs from December 11 to 31.

The cash-for-work scheme provides a temporary source of income to enable the fisher folks to support their families in the duration of the fishing ban. Each beneficiary is paid Php271.00 per day in exchange for work that will last for 22 days, which started in December 11.with reports from MAceveda***