BFAR Case Study

On the other hand, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is the principal agency concerned with fishery resources management and the lead executing agency in providing policy reforms related to sustainable use of fishery resources (Salamanca & Luna, n.d.). Responsibilities of BFAR also involve the creation of fisheries policy and administrative orders to limit entry into fishing and prohibit certain gears and fishing practices in the national waters. However, the BFAR’s fishery and coastal resources conservation and management functions is limited only to waters outside of the municipal waters as the latter is now within the jurisdiction of the local government units (LGUs) by virtue of Local Government Code. BFAR may, however, recommend

Forty species of coral were identified using the random quadrant method to assess the massive coral reef cover, with the most dominant genera being Galaxea, Acropora and Porites. Of the 146 species of fish representing 27 families that can be found in the MPA, 23.29 percent are damselfish or anemone fish and 19.18 percent are wrasse (Haribon Foundation, 2005:215). It is estimated that the annual fishery from Apo Island increased eight times between 1981 and 2002 (Alcala, 1988; Maypa et al., 2002; Russ et al., 2004; Russ and Alcala, 2006). Moreover, since the establishment of the MPA, an increase in fish abundance and density was generated within the no-take portion of the MPA and the fish “spilled over” to the surrounding waters where traditional fishing is allowed. Coral cover also started to increase because destructive fishing techniques were no longer allowed. Given the rich biodiversity and coral reef species in the Apo Island, in which the proliferation and protection was greatly attributed to successful implementation of MPA scheme, hence declaration of the entire area as a protected seascape through NIPAS could grant more protection and safeguards against extractive activities brought about by commercial fishers, non-Apo residents or even by tourism. Since 1994 when the whole island was declared as a national park (protected seascape), it already given limited protection for the coral reef and fishery surrounding the entire island and strict protection from all extraction or damaging activities in small ‘sanctuary’ normally covering up to twenty percent of the coral reef area (White, 1988; White & Vogt,