World-renowned marine scientist and “father” of the marine protected areas concept, Dr. Angel Alcala, disclosed Friday a decline in fish yield at Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental following the onslaught of typhoons Sendong and Pablo.
Before the typhoons in late 2011 and late 2012, fish production outside the Apo Island marine sanctuary was reported at an average of 150 tons of bio-mass fish a year, but now fish yield outside the no-take zone has dropped to as low as 15 tons a year, said Dr. Alcala during a forum on climate change at Silliman University.
The forum is part of the many activities lined up for the Ocean Defenders campaign of Greenpeace, which was launched in the country Tuesday during its first leg of the tour at the world famous dive destination Apo Island and in Dumaguete City from July 9 to 13.
The decline in fisheries production at the island is largely linked to the two typhoons as well as extreme weather conditions arising from climate change, according to Alcala and other scientists present during the same forum.
Alcala, a former Environment Secretary and former chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, said that 10 percent of the current total fish catch of 15 tons a year at Apo Island comes from the marine protected areas (MPAs).
Alcala is renowned for conceptualizing no-take marine reserves as a tool for sustainable fisheries management and bio-diversity conservation in the Philippines since 1974, involving local government units and promoting community-based resource management.
In 1984, the MPA was first established at Apo Island and was later declared a Protected Landscape and Seascape. It became popular as one of the best documented MPAs in the world.
Today, Apo Island has suffered massive devastation of a large chunk of its total 104 hectares of coral cover, the biggest of which is at its 24-hectare marine sanctuary where about 99 percent of the coral reefs have been reduced to “rubble”, scientists and divers reported following reef checks and surveys done early this week.
According to Dr. Alcala, marine protected areas are necessary to sustain fishery production, especially as “Filipinos love to eat fish”.
He noted that today, shallow waters no longer have as much fish as in previous decades. He attributes reduced fish population to overfishing and the use of destructive fishing gear and overpopulation, among others.
The Philippines has an estimated 25,000 square kilometers total of coral reef cover, but only about four percent of this have MPAs, he added.
This is not enough for the country to sustain its fish production, Dr. Alcala said, adding that the only way to protect the Philippines from its declining eco-systems from direct and indirect threats is to establish more no-take zones to allow fish biomass to recover.
The renowned marine biologist recommends converting as much as 30 percent of the Philippines’ total coral reefs cover to save these from further degradation.
He disclosed that based on a 2007 survey, of the estimated 600 marine protected areas in the Visayas, only 30 percent is working. [PNA]
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