Last June 8 (World Oceans Day), the Haribon Foundation and Newcastle University released a study that described the alarming decline of 59 reef-fish species in Philippine waters.
The study, first published in the journal PLOS One, attributed the fast disappearance of species like groupers (lapu-lapu), parrotfish (loro), pompano (talakitok) and humphead wrasse (mameng), to decades of unsustainable fishing—spurred on by the demands of a fast-growing Philippine population.
These fish are essential to keeping reef ecosystems balanced and healthy enough to sustain a wide array of marine life. The upshot is that the fishermen, who are dependent on these species, are imperiling their livelihood by overexploiting these so-called elephants of the ocean.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) tried to prevent a similar problem by recently declaring as water-quality management areas Coron Bay in Palawan and Sabang Bay in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.
The two bays—found along the 1.14-million hectare marine corridor called the Verde Island Passage—are among the country’s top diving sites and have supported the local tourism of the adjacent communities.
However, it appears human activities are posing significant risks to the reefs. During a World Wide Fund-sponsored event along the Verde Island Passage in commemoration of World Oceans Day and Coral Triangle Day (June 9), participants noted that the waters they swam in were heavily littered with plastic. Numerous studies have shown that such waste damages and poisons marine life.
Last year a study by Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment determined that more than half of the plastic waste leaking into the ocean comes from only five countries. Alarmingly, the Philippines ranked as the world’s third-biggest dumper of plastics, next only to China and Indonesia, and ahead of Thailand and Vietnam. Of the 2.7 million metric tons of plastic garbage the Philippines generates each year, up to 521,000 tons (or 20 percent) somehow end up in the ocean.
Each of the five countries recently benefited from significant surges in GDP, reduced poverty and improved quality of life. However, this growing economic strength, the study pointed out, has also generated an explosive demand for consumer products without the commensurate waste-management infrastructure in place.
Overfishing and pollution are among the man-made hazards our oceans immediately face. But as The Economist pointed out in February, higher levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere pose even greater threats to our ocean’s health. Scientists have demonstrated that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to a warmer, more acidic ocean, which results in “coral bleaching,” where entire reef ecosystems are unable to sustain marine life.
Such bleaching has already been observed here, particularly on Snake Island (Kalumpang) in Honda Bay, Palawan. Earlier this month, marine experts estimated that up to 90 percent of the corals in the sites they visited were affected.
As an archipelagic nation, our lives are dependent on the waters that surround us. Ironically, we are among those who pollute, damage and destroy these vital sources of life. What happens on land ultimately affects even the deepest parts of the oceans—and vice versa. When the ocean’s health is imperiled, so are people’s lives and livelihood placed in jeopardy.
E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.