The Napoleon wrasse fish is a known gentle giant creature distinguished by interesting patterns on its scales. It has hump on its head like a Napoleon’s hat, which further protrudes as it ages. No wonder it is one of the favorite fishes divers want to encounter across the world.
Its meat is one of the most expensive luxury foods in the Southeast Asia.
The divers group, Dive the World, reported that the Napoleon wrasse is valued around $100 per kilogram in restaurants in Hong Kong. As the number of Napoleon wrasse decreases at a fast and alarming rate, its price inevitably increases. The fish is on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) “Red List of Threatened Species,” and is listed for protection on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Fortunately, the endangered Napoleon wrasse, including the dugong (sea cow), which is classified by the IUCN as “vulnerable,” have been spotted in Palawan, Philippines, after half a decade of absence.
The return of the Napoleon wrasse
In Coron, Palawan, the Tagbanua Tribe and the fisherfolk community rejoiced after witnessing again the endangered Napoleon wrasse, the sea cow (dugong), more sea turtles and schooling fishes swimming in the waters of the Bulalacao marine protected area (MPA).
The year 2018 has been a successful milestone in the community folks’ efforts to restore their marine bidoversity, which was destroyed by enormous cyanide and dynamite fishing activities over the past decades.
Pacifico Beldia II, Marine Biodiversity Conservation manager of Malampaya Foundation Inc. (MFI), shared: “We started to notice the remarkable recovery of fish stocks, especially the grazer species like parrotfishes, siganids and acanthurids. These species groups tend the reefs to prevent algal overgrowth that smothers the live corals.”
Beldia said they also “started noticing the recovery of small pelagic fishes, fusiliers and scads, indicating the eradication of illegal fishing practices in both the No Take and Sustainable Use Zones.”
He added that in the succeeding years, “we saw the endangered Napoleon wrasse in all of our permanent transect sites and, this year, we saw the black-tip shark in one of the No Take Zones and a dugong in the seagrass bed just near the community wharf. Sea turtles sightings became more and more common, as well.”
A comprehensive biophysical assessment in 2012 determined that 90 percent of the surveyed reef areas in Bulalacao were overfished and showed signs of damage from blast fishing and other unsustainable fishing practices like the use of compressor or hookah fishing.
Taking the lead in conservation efforts is the MFI, the social arm of the Malampaya joint-venture partners Shell Philippines Exploration, Chevron Malampaya Llc. and Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp., supported by the Coron Municipal Agriculture Office, the National Commission on Indigenous People and the Tribal Leaders and Indigenous Peoples’ Organization—all intensively working against the persistent illegal and destructive fishing activities in the area.
In November 2014, the Bulalacao MPA was launched, which was graced by the tribal leaders of the Tagbanua tribe and the parish priest who led the blessing of the first boundary marker deployed in one of the No-Take Zones.
This is one of MFI’s priority biodiversity conservation projects, emphasizing the importance of grassroots representation, participative approach in decision-making, social preparation and advocacy, research, habitat restoration and conservation, and the provision of conservation incentives in the form of livelihood projects and skills training scholarships.
“The process of formalizing the conservation covenant with the Tagbanua Tribe and fisherfolk sector of Brgy. Bulalacao took MFI and the Coron Local Government took two years. The various sectors made sure that all sociocultural restrictions are satisfied while doing all the resource assessments,” Beldia said.
Emphasizing the significance of vertical and horizontal linkages in marine conservation initiatives, MFI engaged into joint activities.
This includes the rehabilitation of coral reefs and mangroves; species restocking; construction of MPA guardhouses; training of community volunteers in enforcement as Bantay Dagat; training in supplementary livelihoods, such as enviro-farming; and provision of the necessary supplies and equipment for the activities.
They also established collaborations with the academe, such as with Western Philippines University in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
Sorry state of the Bulalacao seas
“I was doing that for five years, every day. When we were done with an island, [we found out] it was really destroyed,” recalled Sabino Flores in Filipino.
Over the past decades, the Bulalacao area was dominated by deadly fishing activities brought about by the influx of irresponsible and unlawful foreign traders and fisherfolks. Cyanide and dynamite fishing, locally known as bungbung, were among the most destructive methods.
Formerly one of the known ilegalistas (fishermen using illegal methods), Flores used to own four fishing boats. He was raking in P150,000 every 15-day cycle, catching live reef food fish like coral trout (known locally as suno), as well as lobsters.
This heartless illegal fishing, which prevailed over a long period of time, left the marine waters with tremendous damage, indicating a serious threat to the livelihood of the community people.
An hour of fishing then would yield a 10-kilogram catch. Currently, it’s just 2 kg for an all-day fishing. It became even harder for locals as outsiders came to the hardly surviving seas for their resources.
Inspiring courage, strength to restore Bulalacao’s marine biodiversity
Seeing the tremendous damage, Flores was bothered by his conscience, prompting him to help form the Bulalacao Fishermen Multipurpose Cooperative. He convinced his fellow fishermen to give up the bad habits and illegal methods of fishing that destroyed the marine ecosystem.
“My income lessened, but my conscience was freed from the guilt that there would be nothing left for the future generations to come,” he said.
A most significant milestone during his term was the establishment of the Bulalacao marine protected area. It covers 3,298 hectares of ocean divided into no-take zones and multiple-use areas meant to safeguard the corals and fish stock around Bulalacao’s 13 sites.
With the help of the MFI, which has been doing marine conservation work in the municipality since 2012, the people of Bulalacao witnessed the progress of the MPA from a barangay resolution to a municipal ordinance, until its approval in November 2014.
Rogelio Pavia, a member of Bantay Dagat, said, “Of course we don’t want to destroy our ocean. What would happen if we all did bad things? That wouldn’t be right in the eyes of God and the law. I am proud of what I do. This is where I draw courage and strength, because we are getting support.”
Pavia and other fishermen in the locality currently serve as members of the Bantay Dagat of Bulalacao MPA, tasked with protecting it from fishermen involved in illegal fishing and patrolling the perimeters of the area to secure its continuous recovery.
Juanito Adezas Jr., a boat operator for the Bulalacao-based Hikari Pearl Farm and a volunteer diver for MFI’s Marine Biodiversity Conservation Program, considers himself an eyewitness to the development that the MPA has brought to Bulalacao.
“I’m happy because there are more fishes, and the coral reefs are back in their healthy form. I can see the difference. The illegal fishers could not do anything because there is a law now, and they’d be going against the government and the barangay if they continue,” he said in Filipino.
Pushing for a healthier marine life in the Asean region
Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), praised the participatory approach of the MFI in recovering the marine life in Bulalacao while strengthening the indigenous people and fisherfolks in the local community.
“We have to learn from this very valuable experience and encourage more collective efforts on local, national, regional and global levels to conserve our marine biodiversity; promote responsible and sustainable use of resources and livelihood; save marine habitats; stop single-use plastics that harm our healthy waters; and continuously combat illegal and destructive activities,” Lim, an international biodiversity expert and marine conservation advocate, explained.
Lim noted that the economic benefits of Asean’s marine biodiversity are immense. It is estimated that the total potential sustainable annual economic net benefits per square kilometer of healthy coral reefs in the region range from $23,100 to $270,000 arising from fisheries, shoreline protection, tourism, recreation and aesthetic values.
She said the continuous overexploitation of coastal and marine resources, habitat change, pollution and climate change, among many other drivers of biodiversity loss, threaten the rich marine resources of the region.
“Studies revealed that in the Asia-Pacific region alone, a total of 11.1 billion plastic items, such as shopping bags, fishing nets, diapers and tea bags, are entangled in coral reefs, which, according to scientists of Journal Science, is likely to increase by 40 percent by 2025. Plastic pollution, besides overfishing and climate change, puts our marine resources and habitats at faster and higher risk of deterioration,” Lim said.
She cited examples of good practices in marine conservation. Indonesia, one of the Asean member-states, enacted a ban on plastics to curb marine degradation in its seas with the aim to reduce the single-use plastics like styrofoams and shopping bags by 70 percent in the Bali area.
In Singapore, the National Parks Board and private-sector partners are embarking on a big project to restore its coral-reef ecosystems in the Small Sisters’ Islands Marine Park. The project is part of efforts to protect the coral reefs around Singapore and enhance marine biodiversity in the island’s surrounding waters.
In the Philippines, Lim lauded the recent pronouncement of President Duterte ordering the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to take the lead in a massive cleanup campaign in Manila Bay.
Em-Em S. Mandanas/ACB
Image credits: www.dive-the-world.com