South Negros Island is one of eight places chosen by USAID as a laboratory for fighting overfishing in the country, according to information released by USAID.
Scientists have enough evidence of excessive fishing and steep declines in fish abundance in the Philippines and have offered tried and tested ways of reversing the trend, but politicians are indifferent to fishing regulation and management due to fear of loss of votes and revenues.
“The science is there, but we have never succeeded with interventions that are threatening,” said Dr. Armada, fisheries biologist and ecological assessment specialist, in a talk to journalists at the US Embassy Manila last September 16.
Armada is the deputy chief of party of the Ecosystems Improved for Sustainable Fisheries Project (ECOFISH), a five-year effort (2012-2017) to conserve biodiversity, enhance ecosystem productivity and restore the profitability of fishing in eight Marine Key Biodiversity Areas in the Philippines.
These areas are Lingayen Gulf, Verde Island Passage, Calamianes Island Group, Ticao-San Bernardino-Lagonoy Gulf, Danajon Reef, South Negros Island, Surigao del Sur and del Norte, and Sulu Archipelago.
Armada, former professor of the UP Visayas College of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, showed the following data on fisheries degradation in the country: Fish catch average dipped from about 1,600 kg/fisher/year in 1987 to about 1,000 kg/fisher/year in 1996; crab abundance in the Visayas Sea dipped to 15 percent from 1990 to 2005; catch per unit effort of small fisheries decreased from 10 metric tons per hectare per year in 1940 to less than one metric ton per hectare per year in 1980 up to 2000; stock density of demersal (bottom dwelling) fish declined as well, based on trawl surveys from 1948 to 1995; catch composition has changed–as large predator fishes are overharvested, small fishes multiply.
It was also noted that overfishing is made worse by climate change. For instance, rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification damage the coral reefs, which serve as fish habitat, and related ecosystems.
This has a big impact on Philippine fisheries, an important part of the Philippine economy, particularly to poor communities who live on small-scale fishing.
“Clearly, improved management of fisheries holds tremendous potential benefits for fishers and coastal communities,” the Project said, and empowering local governments capacity for ecosystem approaches to fisheries management offers “hope for reversing the trend of decline that is now impacting Philippine fisheries.”
The ECOFISH approach is called Ecosystem-based Approach to Fisheries Management, whose main goal is to build local governance alliances and empower local institutions so they can effectively manage their fishery resources based on sound science and ensure sustainability of catches beyond the project life.
It also provides training for government, NGOs and academic institutions for scientific and technological capacity development in baseline assessment and monitoring and policy formulation.
The Project’s specific targets: 10 percent increase in fish biomass in the eight MKBAs; one million hectares of municipal marine waters under improved management; 30 LGUS across the MKBAs with improved capacity for implementing EAFM; 10 increase increase in number of people gaining employment or better employment from sustainable fisheries management; eight public-partnerships supporting the objectives of ECOFISH
Based on complex calculations, mappings and modelling that only scientists can do, ECOFISH researchers have determined the hydrodynamics in their Project sites, plotted the distribution and abundance of fish and fish larvae, mapped the flow of nutrients in the food web, and determined the conditions for maximum fish productivity.
From their findings they have recommended a network of viable Marine Protected Areas, where fishing or extraction of products are banned or regulated.
Establishment of MPAs is a favored strategy by the Project because they are non-threatening (compared to, say, reducing the number of fish cages in overcrowded bays), and they serve as a starting point to engage the community and as a laboratory for learning and appreciating the principles of fisheries management, Dr. Armada said.
In terms of regulation, ECOFISH calls for the “right-sizing of fishing effort,” based on analysis of ecosystem resources, interactions and exploitation.
The Project has drawn a table which compares the inventory of fishing gears in the areas and their ideal numbers to serve as a reference for regulation–showing which gears should be banned, reduced, maintained or increased.
Other examples of regulation recommended are a closed season for rabbit fish or danggit (the 3rd, 4th, 5th night after the new moon) when spawning is high, a catch limit to unit size of blue crab (12 cm) and a ban on catching berried blue crab.
To round it all up, the Project provides advice on registration and licensing of fishing boats, zoning of fisheries uses, law enforcement, and public information and education. (Celia E. Acedo/SU College of Mass Communication)
