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Marine Protected Areas (MPA) or marine reserves serves as the protection of critical spawning stock biomass – to ensure recruitment supply to fished areas via larval dispersal is sustained. In recent years, the use of marine reserves in the management of fisheries in general is advocated as a cost- ...

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Marine Protected Areas (MPA) or marine reserves serves as the protection of critical spawning stock biomass – to ensure recruitment supply to fished areas via larval dispersal is sustained. In recent years, the use of marine reserves in the management of fisheries in general is advocated as a cost- effective strategy to sustain fish stocks. However, there are very few data on rates at which gains are potentially useful to fisheries may be lost if unregulated fishing occurs in the reserves – be it during the closure or after the reopening.

In this case, two islands of the Philippines were closed: Apo Island (marine reserves established since late 1982) and Sumilon Island (established in December 1974). The study was conducted to assess the density and biomass of large predatory reef fish over the periods of up to 9-11 years at these two islands. The study does suggest a gain in density, particularly biomass – to be potentially useful in fisheries management to occur in reserves on scales of 5-10 years rather than just a few years. But the longer the reserves are closed to fishing; this would also mean that the fishermen would be displaced for a longer term which could result in another complication.

Too often, closures are planned around a short-termed time frame – from the time of closure to the reopening. There should be ample time to allow the recruitment to recover and t o ensure the usefulness of marine reserves as potential sources of recruitment to fished areas. Mean density of large predatory fish provides an excellent indicator of the effects of marine reserve protection, which increases in a linear pattern at approximately similar rates over periods of 10 years in two small Philippine reserves.

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MPA has been established since the 1974 in Philippines on Sumilon Island, Cebu. In stemming the increasing magnitude of destruction to coastal habitat and the decline of fisheries, the establishment of the MPA was expected to enhance fish yields to traditional fishers. The history of MPA in the Phil ...

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MPA has been established since the 1974 in Philippines on Sumilon Island, Cebu. In stemming the increasing magnitude of destruction to coastal habitat and the decline of fisheries, the establishment of the MPA was expected to enhance fish yields to traditional fishers. The history of MPA in the Philippines has always been managed together with the evolution of its integrated coastal management (ICM). Thus, the increasing number of MPAs being established has demanded for a support base beyond the MPA to also become increasingly apparent.

A main character of a successful MPA project in Philippines is the strong involvement of stakeholder communities and the local government in the planning and enforcing process behind it. However, the MPA in Bohol has demonstrated that strong management does not always guarantee increased coral cover and fish abundance within and around the sanctuary. Fisheries management and the adoption of a more ecosystem- orientated approach to the management of large marine areas is essential to build on the success in the area, with adequate consideration to watershed management issues as well.

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The Ko Chang Marine National Park (MNP) consists of 47 islands and its residents live primarily on the park’s natural resources. It is essentially the home to an extensive local fishing industry, where small-scale fishers were reported to be working on 95% of the park’s marine waters. At the same ti ...

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The Ko Chang Marine National Park (MNP) consists of 47 islands and its residents live primarily on the park’s natural resources. It is essentially the home to an extensive local fishing industry, where small-scale fishers were reported to be working on 95% of the park’s marine waters. At the same time, the Ko Chang MNP is facing a rapid and increasing tourism development, which is garnering in a substantial income. With the growing interest on ecological and socioeconomic benefits of establishing MPA, Ko Chang became one of the many gazetted marine national parks in Thailand.

The multiple-use zoning has since been recognized as a way to achieve several objectives within a single marine protected areas and helping to ease current and potential conflict among user groups at the same time. However, the zoning plans has resulted in spatial separation of different resources uses that buffer fully ‘no-take’ and/or ‘no- access’ areas, prohibiting all fishing activities within any area of the park. Following such ruling, the park management of Thailand has encountered typical repercussions which include poor compliance to local regulations and mounting conflicts among user groups.

There were only a little investment made by authorities to outline these regulations of closing, hence small- scale- fisheries has continued to operate unmonitored within the MNP area. Even though the tourism in the Ko Chang MNP is rapidly burgeoning, the small scale fishery serves as an important source of market and subsistence income to the local residents.

Although fishers generally have positive comments about the local tourism industry, the local boom in tourism and current activity patterns suggested little overlap between these industries. Surveys of foreign and domestic tourists suggested that the number and diversity of fish on the archipelago’s reefs was already an area of minor concern for managers, however still having the potential to spark a conflict between reef fishers and tour operators. The fishers’ continued dependence on fishing inside the boundaries of Ko Chang MNP underscores the need for increased monitoring, management and public awareness if the park is to be successfully implemented and reaches its objectives.

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