Fisheries Management Options
Attributes
Medium: Animals, Plants and/or Others
Country: Philippines
Analytical Framework(s): Other
Study Date: 2008
Publication Date: 2009
Major Result(s)
Study Note: The general objective of this research is to evaluate the different fisheries management options for the Visayan Sea, with focus on northern Iloilo fisheries. This study specifically aims to: 1) identify potentially viable fisheries management options; 2) evaluate the identified fisheries management options using a criteria set: likely impact on fishers, likely impact on resources, enforceability, costs to the government, and likely impact to the community; and 3) recommend a future course of action for the Visayan Sea.
Study Details
Summary: The paper examines the sustainability of fisheries and fishers' incomes in the Visayan Sea and identifies potentially viable options that could help achieve the dual goals of protecting the fish and helping fishers earn a living. The focus is northern Iloilo fisheries, which cover almost half of the Visayan Sea. Ten management options identified from various sources were presented to the different stakeholders: fishers, fishery scientists, and fishery managers. These consist of status quo, input controls (ban of commercial fishing, ban of commercial fishing with safety nets, marine protected area, closed season, reduction in the number of commercial and municipal fishers, localization, and rotational fishing regime), output control (quota), and the creation of a special management unit. These management options were evaluated at two stages where Stage 1 ruled out options with no or low impact on increasing fish stocks. Options that passed Stage 1 advanced to Stage 2 where each was evaluated using a set of criteria (impact on fishers, impact on resources, feasibility, cost to the government, and impact to the community). Feedback from the stakeholders was obtained through focus group discussions and in-depth personal interviews. The potentially viable options (fishing bans with and without safety nets, marine protected area, reduction in the number of municipal and commercial fishers, localization, and creation of a special management unit) were discussed. The use of a combination of options, rather than a single one, and the creation of a single management body, to be pilot tested in northern Iloilo, to implement any program of management in all portions of the Visayan Sea fishing ground and for all its fishers are recommended.
Site Characteristics: Northern Iloilo has a number of unique characteristics that pose as a challenge to fishery management. Seven of the 22 coastal municipalities facing the Visayan Sea are in the area (Ajuy, Balasan, Batad, Carles, Concepcion, Estancia, and Carles). The 15 other municipalities and cities are in the provinces of Negros Occidental (Cadiz City, Sagay City, Manapla, and Escalante City, also in Region 6), Masbate (Balud, Cawayan, Experanza, Placer, and Milagros, in Region 5), and Cebu (Bantayan, Daan Bantayan, Madridejos, Medellin, Sta. Fe, and San Remegio, in Region 7). Almost half of the entire Visayan Sea comprises the municipal waters of the seven municipalities in northern Iloilo (Table 1). The municipality of Carles, the last municipality in northern Iloilo has the widest surface water area from among the 22 municipalities; it covers a little more than one-third of the entire Visayan Sea (3,577 km2 ). The vastness of the area makes it the most popular fishing ground for commercial fishers not only from local and neighboring municipalities but also for others in Iloilo Province and the neighboring provinces.
Comments: The author noted that there is a need for a more robust regulatory environment to protect both the fish and the fishers, especially since there are only a few livelihood alternatives to fishing. Management measures have to be improved or implemented soon given the threat to the resources, fishers, and the larger community. In the next five years, if no intervention will be introduced to sustainably manage the Visayan Sea, most of the catch will be composed of organisms belonging to the low trophic level of the food chain.