he main reason for
the es-tablishment of marine re-serves in the Philippines is to increase the
biomass and abundance of marine organisms, especially the target or food
species, such as fish, used as human food. The other reason is to allow marine
biodiversity to improve or recover so that it can serve several purposes such as
scientific study, education, recreation, tourism, etc. Many marine areas with
high quality biodiversity attract visitors and tourists and are considered
tourist destinations, which could earn incomes for coastal communities.
It is time now for the effects of no-take marine reserves on
fisheries and marine biodiversity to be evaluated to determine the extent they
have fulfilled the two objectives mentioned above. There have been earlier
attempts to evaluate marine reserves on the basis of a number of criteria such
as those suggested by the CRMP of the USAID. Our evaluation of no-take marine
reserves has been done simply by determining whether they are functional or not
functional. The functional marine reserves are those that are fully protected
from fishing, have improved marine biodiversity over time, have high densities
and large biomasses of target species of fish and other species, and are most
likely exporting adult fish to fished areas for fishers to catch.
The following indicators define functional marine reserves:
(1) protection as evidenced by the presence of guards, buoys and signs; (2)
sustained funding support by local government units; (3) high target fish
density and biomass (at least ca 40-50 tons/ km2) and high species biodiversity;
(4) moderate to high coral/seagrass/mangrove cover (at least ca 40 percent); and
(5) catch per unit effort (CPUE) outside them of ca 1.0 kg/person/hour for hook
and line fishing gear.
The first two indicators are the requirements for setting up
and sustaining marine reserves. The last three indicators are the consequences
of protection and management usually after a period of 3-5 years of protection
from fishing. Indicators 3, 4 and 5 have been developed from our research
findings, published and unpublished, on fully protected and functional marine
reserves in the central Philippines.
The fourth indicator is considered important because for
marine reserves to be useful to the country it must be shown that improvement in
the quality of the marine environment has occurred. High biodiversity attracts
attention from people who use the marine environment for various purposes. The
fifth indicator is true only, at the present time, of two marine reserves (Sumilon
and Apo Island), but it can be inferred from a high biomass in the reserve. It
is included here to emphasize that monitoring of marine reserves should ideally
demonstrate adult fish spillover from marine reserves. The significance to
fisheries of fully protected marine reserves is the build-up of large biomasses
of adult fish, part of which is exported to the fished areas. Our recent study
at Apo Island Marine Reserve, which has a biomass of more than150 tons/km2, can
export 1.5-2.0 tons of fish yearly to the surrounding fishing areas. (The stable
fish production of Apo Island coral reef outside the no-take zone is 15-20 tons
per year.) Excellent coral reefs found in marine reserves have attracted
tourists, bringing considerable incomes to local communities. Apo Marine Reserve
off Negros and Balicasag Marine Reserve off Bohol are good examples.
Marine reserves that have moderate to high fish biomasses
most likely export adult fish outside their boundaries. But how much is this
export is not known. This is the reason why research is needed to determine the
spillover effects of marine reserves. If this impact is substantial, marine
reserves will surely be appreciated by the people.
Only a summary of our evaluation results is presented here. A
more detailed analysis will be presented later in a book in preparation
commissioned by the Technological Cooperation Council of the Philippines,
Department of Foreign Affairs. Our preliminary evaluation shows that of a total
of 369 marine reserves in the Central and the Western Visayas, the average
percentage of successful marine reserves as defined above is 20.5 percent.
The relatively low percentage is not because marine reserves
do not work but because of human and environmental reasons. As inferred from our
data, the three most important reasons are (1) the reserves were not fully
protected from poachers, (2) the reserves were not monitored regularly, and (3)
the degraded environment failed to recover for various reasons.
To conclude, the human factor is very important in ensuring the success of
marine reserves. Of importance also is the status of the marine environment. If
it continues to degrade, marine reserves cannot be expected to be functional
over a certain period of time. Managers of marine reserves should address the
deficiencies in management and protection if they are to realize benefits from
them.
