Overfishing, destruction of marine habitats and the resulting decline in fish catches affect small-scale fishermen throughout the Philippines. The establishment of marine protected areas is a recognized and proven strategy for resource conservation and management. The protection and management of marine areas can result in marked increases in fish growth and yields. Marine reserves protect breeding populations of corals, mollusks, fishes, shrimps, mangroves and seagrass from which neighboring depleted areas can be recolonized. Local government units (LGUs) play a critical role in establishing and managing marine reserves and protected areas.
A marine reserve is an area within a coastal zone where resource extraction
is either banned or highly regulated. It may be a part of a single or a
combination of any of the major coastal ecosystems (coral reefs, mangroves,
seagrasses, soft-bottom communities). Resource utilization in these areas is
strictly managed, hence, resources are protected.
Also, marine reserves conserve biodiversity to support local fisheries. They are venues for education, research, and habitat restoration. These areas provide an environment for low- impact aquaculture managed and organized by coastal communities.
Resources in marine reserves may be viewed as "common property" for the exclusive use by a community. Various sectors of the community therefore "own" or have an interest in the use, management, and protection of marine reserves.
The protection and allocation of marine and inland aquatic resources is enshrined in the laws of different states. In the Philippines, this is amply stated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which gives preference to subsistence fisherfolk.
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Stakeholders
Fisherfolk who depend on the sea for their livelihood and benefit from the improved fishery as a consequence of establishing a marine reserve.
Non-government organizations (NGOs) guide collective action and advocacy among resource-users. Local government units (LGUs) provide the institutional framework and legal basis for any individual or collective management actions.
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Being direct-users, fisherfolk are day-to-day managers in the use of marine resources. This requires collaboration with LGUs, which provide the enabling legislation to make protective management actions binding to all stakeholders.
Key legislations in recent years have empowered and given both the LGUs and fisherfolk greater control over their resources in municipal waters.
Co-management of marine reservesEnabling national legislation allowed the evolution of co-management schemes involving the participation of all stakeholders in the decision-making process, which is a requirement to sustain management intervention strategies such as marine reserves.
Administered by the LGU, the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (FARMC) is a multi-sectoral body of fishers’ organizations, NGOs, the LGU and government agencies that regulate resource use by all stakeholders. FARMCs provide a legitimate forum to raise fishery-related issues and problems. The LGU and the fishers’ organization, often assisted by an NGO, national agencies and a federation of fishers’ organizations, conduct general assemblies and consensus-building activities to draw up solutions suitable to the community. The LGU enacts fishery-related laws and policies recommended by the FARMC, thus, minimizing conflicts in resource use. The municipal and barangay (villages) councils and deputized fisher-wardens enforce the regulations and monitor compliance.
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Caution Marine reserves have proliferated in many coastal municipalities in the Philippines and elsewhere as a result, in part, of the global conservation movement in recent years. Indeed, this has been a welcome and innovative move, especially in coastal communities where overfishing has been rampant. However, in the rush to adopt a novel strategy, the basic norms of establishing and managing marine reserves have been overlooked, resulting in the non-sustainability of management measures. Physico-biological factors and, most importantly, sociopolitical considerations are often ignored. Marine reserves can be an effective resource management tool when concerns of all stakeholders have been and will be considered. Sadly, many marine reserves in the country are "paper" reserves, with no credible conservation measures being applied. |
The island community of more than 100 households consists of subsistence fishers, having monthly incomes below the national poverty level. Before 1990, the island’s reef fishery was typically open-access, with island and other fishers from neighboring coastal barangays engaged in illegal and destructive fishing. Conflicting national fishery laws encouraged the encroachment of commercial fisheries in municipal waters (including the island), which became a source of dispute. Coastal resource conservation among island fishers was practically non-existent.
This scenario changed in 1990. An exclusive fishery-use zone of one square kilometer was initially set by a Culasi municipal ordinance. This was followed by another ordinance in 1991, which permitted the deployment of artificial concrete habitats in the protected zone. Organized fisherfolk succeeded in getting the Culasi municipal council to declare the entire waters of Malalison Island for the island fishers’ exclusive use. A ban on commercial fishing and destructive gears was imposed. In 1995, acting again on the petition of the organized fisherfolk and the barangay FARMC, the Culasi municipal council declared one of the island’s reef fishing grounds a marine sanctuary closed to any form of fishing. No serious violation of the sanctuary has yet occurred. To date, resource monitoring of the island’s marine resources by the organized fisherfolk, together with SEAFDEC researchers, provides advice on management decisions. Since co-management arrangements have been in place, performance indicators (equity, efficiency and sustainability) have improved, particularly in the perceived control over fishery resources, fair allocation of access rights, and participation and influence in fishery management.
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Related Philippine Laws n The Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act 7160) provides LGUs greater and exclusive access to their coastal resources. LGUs are authorized to issue licences for and collect fees from several fishery activities in municipal waters without prior approval from the national government. Municipal waters extend 15 km from the shoreline. The Code does not explicitly stipulate the establishment nor governance of marine protected areas in municipal waters. n The Fisheries Code of 1998 (Republic Act 8550) allows LGUs and municipal Fishery and Aquatic Resource Management Councils (FARMCs) to recommend to the national government the declaration of closed seasons for the fishery and the establishment of at least 15% of the total coastal area in municipalities as fishery reserves and sanctuaries. Local representation is emphasized in municipal FARMCs. Together with barangay (village) FARMCs created in 1995 by Executive Order 240, municipal FARMCs may recommend the enactment of relevant fishery legislations to the municipal council. n The National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992 (Republic Act 7586) provides the legal mechanism for the establishment and management of protected areas to be directly managed by a Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). With assistance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), presidential decrees then national legislation set aside protected areas. Like the FARMC, local representation is strong in the PAMB. The board implements a general management strategy or plan, which is formulated in consultation with both national and local stakeholders. |
Exploited by local municipal fishers and by commercial fishers from elsewhere, the reefs of Sablayan have become sources of conflicts among contending users, including sports diving enthusiasts who frequented Apo reef. In 1980, the national tourism agency declared Apo reef a marine park and in 1983, through a municipal ordinance, a tourist zone and marine reserve. Over the years, however, enforcement of protective management has failed to the detriment of reef resources, since local stakeholders were not fully consulted. Local fishers resisted the plan to protect Apo and neighboring reefs in the municipality. Clearly, the approach of establishing a marine reserve in the area had to change. With the assistance of university researchers, an NGO, and LGU extension workers, public consultations and dialogues were initiated with local fishers until, in 1995, Apo reef was declared a "natural park" under the NIPAS Act. Nearby reefs became municipal marine reserves. Municipal fishers were organized into a cooperative. Other livelihood options were extended to members of the cooperative to mitigate the impact of regulating fishing in their reefs. The LGU deputized fisher-wardens or Bantay Dagat to patrol Apo and neighboring reefs to ward off poachers. Fishery co-management of the marine reserves has continued to date. All stakeholders are being educated on the value of conservation of their coastal resources. Good rapport exists between fishers and the LGU. Fishers have reported an improvement in their daily catch from outside the marine reserves. In addition, several fish, sea turtles, and migratory birds have returned to the area.
Agbayani, R.F., D. B. Baticados and S. V. Siar. 2000. Community Fishery Resources Management on Malalison Island, Philippines: R & D framework, interventions and policy implications. Coastal Management, 28: 19-27
Baticados, D. B. and R. F. Agbayani. 2000. Co-management in Marine Fisheries in Malalison Island, Central Philippines. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 7: 1-13
Roberts, C. M. and N. V. C. Polunin. 1991. Are Marine Reserves Effective in Management of Reef Fisheries? Reviews in fish biology and fisheries, 1: 65-91.
Siar, S. V., R. F. Agbayani and J. B. Valera. 1992. Acceptability of Territorial-use Rights in Fisheries: Towards Community-based Management of Small-scale Fisheries in the Philippines. Fisheries Research, 14: 295-304.
Prepared by:
Luis Ma. B. Garcia and Fernando Dalangin
Researchers
who conduct studies to monitor the status of resources in marine reserves as
an input to management decisions.