One of the country’s major municipal fishing grounds and home to amazing creatures of the sea in the Visayas, the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS), is getting the much-needed boost from various stakeholders.
Collectively known as “Protectors of Tañon Strait”—the alliance of national government agencies, local governments, law-enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations—linked arms once more literally and figuratively speaking to ensure the sustainable management of the TSPS and ensure the strict enforcement of various environmental laws, including the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act and the Philippine Fisheries Code.
Next year the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) and the management of TSPS, will embark on various projects to boost efforts to conserve coastal and marine ecosystem and enhance the income and livelihood of small fishermen in the area.
Linking arms
On November 15 groups composing the Protectors of Tañon Strait linked arms during the ceremonial “send-off” of three patrol vessels held at Port of Dumaguete City.
The patrol vessels that were deployed to both ends of Tañon Strait were from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) to prevent commercial fishing vessels from fishing within the TSPS.
During the event, TSPS Protected Area Superintendent Am Prospero Lendio, Negros Oriental Officer In Charge Nathaniel Lucero, Amlan Municipal Mayor Gino de la Cruz, Negros Oriental Police Director Senior Supt. Edwin Portento, Navy Capt. Richard Cordero, Dumaguete City Coast Guard Station Commander Lt. Junior Grade Donna Liza Camacho, Rare Philippines Marine Governance Senior Manager Rizalier Amolo and Oceana Philippines Vice President Gloria Estenzo-Ramos have committed to work hand in hand to enforce the law against illegal fishing and other environmental crimes within the TSPS.
‘Doing our job’
Speaking in Filipino, Daniel Ocampo, campaign manager of Oceana Philippines, said the task of protecting Tañon is gargantuan. It requires the collaboration of various stakeholders as part of their mandate and sworn duties, responsibilities and advocacies.
“Today is the start of the closed fishing season in the Visayan Sea. As you all know, when a closed fishing season is declared in one area, the tendency is that commercial fishing vessels go to another area to catch fish. Commercial fishing is banned in Tañon Strait. Our presence here shows that we are doing our job,” Ocampo said.
“We all know how important it is to conserve our resources. We have a lot of good laws, but most of the time, we cannot implement them. Talk about the forest, our ocean, our natural resources. You do not need a [new] law every day. Most of the laws are already there. All you need is to enforce the law,” Acting Negros Oriental Gov. Edward Mark Macias said.
Macias aptly described the gathering as convergence, and expressed elation that the plan is to focus on enforcement.
“Hopefully, we are starting [the enforcement of laws]. Rest assured that the local government, the provincial government, will support this endeavor. At the end of the day, we will benefit from this…. If there is something the provincial government can do to help, please let me know,” he added.
Municipal fishing ground
Lendio told the BusinessMirror in an interview that he continues to coordinate with the commercial fishing companies to remind them that the Tañon Strait is “off-limits” to commercial fishing.
He, however, admitted that some commercial fishing vessels continue to encroach in the territory to fish.
“What I am doing now is I continue to write to the commercial fishing companies so they would cease from fishing within Tañon,” he said.
The rampant illegal activities that threaten Tañon Strait, he added, require the collaboration of various stakeholders.
Recently, authorities filed a landmark case against 13 individuals caught onboard a commercial fishing vessel within the TSPS. This is the first time that such case was filed in violation of the Nipas Act.
A protected area—whether a marine-protected area (MPA) or a protected seascape—is off limits to commercial fishing activities.
Vessel monitoring
Lendio said they have been coordinating with commercial fishing companies that dock within the TSPS to install vessel-monitoring devices—which could either be a satellite-based vessel-monitoring system or a radio frequency-based vessel-monitoring mechanism that will provide both the operators and concerned authorities real-time data to pinpoint the exact location of the vessel within a 50-kilometer range.
A Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) resolution was approved during the third general assembly of the TSPS PAMB in April in Cebu City, requiring all vessels transiting and docking within the area to have the prescribed tracking device for monitoring purposes.
This will also allow the operators, as well as concerned authorities, to monitor the behavior of the commercial fishing vessel while in a fishing expedition.
“We are currently working to pilot-test the vessel monitoring. Hopefully, in due time, we will be able to successfully install a tracking device in all vessels docking in Tañon,” he said.
Rehabilitation
The DENR-BMB, through the TSPS, has been conducting various projects to restore the strait’s abundance and productivity. Among the projects, which will start next year, Lendio said, is the simultaneous mangrove-forest rehabilitation in 10 different areas.
“We have allocated a budget of P200,000 per area and we are planning to cover a total of 20 hectares,” he added.
He said artificial reefs, called “payao condominiums,” would also be installed in 10 areas, with the same amount for each project. Payao, a fish-aggregating device used in the area, is sometimes made of concrete modules deployed in an area to function as coral reefs for breeding, feeding ground and playground for young fish.
All these projects, he said, aims to boost the recovery of damaged coastal and marine ecosystems within the TSPS.
More important, Lendio added that through the DENR-BMB, 12 biodiversity-friendly enterprise projects will be launched in various coastal communities, with each project having a budget allocation of P250,000.
“We are using broken corals which we will put in the structure. These structures will look natural in due time,” he said.
Lendio added he is coordinating with DENR-BMB Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim for the release of a P5.2-million budget, part of which will be used to acquire patrol vessels that will be used to boost the protection of the TSPS against illegal fishing, including crimes against marine wildlife.
“We have requested over P5 million for patrol boats with the DBM [Department of Budget and Management]. We are hoping to have it followed up to be downloaded [released] to the DENR regional [offices] so we can start bidding. So that by next year we will have two more patrol boats,” he said.
Lendio added that he is eyeing a patrol boat that could accommodate 10 to 15 passengers, with 150 horsepower and 25 horsepower backup.
“With this [specification], we can go after fast boats. We will guard both ends of Tañon. If they [commercial fishing vessels] decide to illegally enter the Tañon Strait, they will have no way out. We will catch them,” he said.
Self-sustaining
According to Lendio, the TSPS is a step closer to becoming a self-sustaining protected area because of the integrated protected-area fund (Ipaf) retention law, wherein 75 percent of the revenues generated by protected areas are retained.
“We are the biggest contributor to Ipaf. This year alone, we are contributing around P11 million. Twenty-five percent of that goes to Ipaf and the 75 percent is retained to us. We are using that fund for our various programs,” he said.
There are a good number of business establishments operating within the TSPS. During earlier interviews, Lendio said they are conducting a tax mapping to make sure that the establishments are paying the correct taxes in the form of business permits.
‘Increased fish catch’
According to Lendio, small fishermen within the TSPS are very cooperative and are helping protect the TSPS.
“In fact, they [fishermen] are very thankful because they are now experiencing increased fish catch,” he said.
Before the campaign, the fishermen have complained of the dwindling fish catch because of commercial fishing within the TSPS. Now, they are helping monitor the activities of commercial fishing vessels within the area.
‘Dream come true’
Ramos said the stakeholders of Tañon coming together to protect TSPS is a dream becoming a reality.
“To my mind, this is one of the most memorable [events] since we have started the campaign in Tañon Strait. This is a dream come true. CSOs [civil-society organizations], national government agencies and local government units [LGUs] are coming together to protect the ecosystem,” she said.
Oceana, which works at national fishery policies level, works with the group Rare Philippines, which works at the community level. Rare Philippines has ongoing programs with various coastal communities and 22 of the 42 LGUs within the TSPS.
“Not all LGUs can have patrol vessels. But it is now a requirement for all commercial fishing operators or owners to have vessel-monitoring systems. We are also helping local governments in localizing the features of RA [Republic Act] 10654 [Philippine Fisheries Code] to be integrated into their local laws,” she added.
Requiring urgent action
According to Ramos, protecting the country’s coastal marine ecosystem has reached the level that requires urgent action by various stakeholders.
“Rare [Philippines] is very involved also in the crafting of ordinances requiring vessel monitoring for all vessels. This is very urgent. A week ago, our fisheries [stock] was only 10 percent compared to 1990s level. Our fisheries industry is collapsing. This is a very urgent [situation], we need to work together,” Ramos said.
On a positive note, Ramos said the TSPS now has is first special prosecutor assigned to prosecute cases related to protected area management as mandated by the Nipas Act. The 25-year-old law requires the designation of special prosecutors who will handle environmental cases.
“Now it is a reality. The law has become real and alive with the designation of the special prosecutor. This is the first for the entire country for a protected area,” she said.