Baseline Study for Jose Dalman, Leon Postigo, Liloy, Salug and Sindangan Zamboanga Del Norte, Philippines Final Report
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REGIONAL FISHERIES LIVELIHOODS PROGRAMME FOR SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: PHILIPPINES GCP/RAS/239/SPA: RFLP Philippines Baseline Study Baseline Study for Jose Dalman, Leon Postigo, Liloy, Salug and Sindangan Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines Final Report Prepared by JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY Research Unit _______________________________________________________ REGIONAL FISHERIES LIVELIHOODS PROGRAMME FOR SOUTH AND SOUTHEST ASIA: PHILIPPINES ____________________________________ GCP/RAS/239/SPA: RFLP Philippines Baseline Study Baseline Study for Jose Dalman, Leon Postigo, Liloy, Salug and Sindangan Zamboanga del Norte Final Report Prepared by JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte Written by Maria Rio Abdon Naguit, Evelyn R. Campiseno, Wilson Nabua, Narcisa Bureros, Arnel Cuivillas, Leonardo Cainta, Jane Aquino, Ana Liza Lopez, Josephine Subong, Christopher Tagupa December 2011 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This baseline study was made possible by the assistance and cooperation of several agencies and countless individuals in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte. The following agencies are thanked for providing important data that become part of this report: the Local Government Units (LGUs), Municipal Agriculture (MAO) and Municipal Planning and Development (MPDO) Offices of Jose Dalman, Sindangan, Leon Postigo, Salug, and Liloy; the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA- BFAR); and, the fishing communities of the aforementioned municipalities. Finally, this study could not have been realized without the generosity of the Government of Spain and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The primary goal of Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (RFLP) is to improve the livelihoods of small-scale fishers in the program area through targeted interventions that will produce grass root effects of improved fisheries management and livelihood development. The ultimate aim is to have community organizations and government institutions at different levels supporting efforts for fisheries co-management, livelihood development, improved quality and reduction of vulnerability in small-scale fishing communities. Realizing this noble goal of RFLP requires data for designing and implementing intervention programs. The baseline study covers the municipalities of Jose Dalman, Leon Postigo, Liloy, Salug and Sindangan in the province of Zamboanga del Norte which is the largest province of Zamboanga Peninsula in terms of land area. The coastal communities surveyed are situated along Sindangan Bay. The bay is a major resource base of fishing households in these communities but the quality and quantity of fisheries here had been exposed to pressures brought about by the demand of growing population and destructive human activities. Thus, addressing these problems is urgently needed with the involvement of various stakeholders to curb the further depletion of fisheries in this particular bay like elsewhere in Zamboanga del Norte. The succeeding sections are the highlights of the baseline study given the available data that address the information needed as stated in the Terms of Reference of the project. On Co-management Concept Current understanding and expectations of the concept “co-management” Generally speaking, the majority of the respondents perceived that government agencies have the major responsibility in fisheries management including planning, decision- making, enforcing, studying problems, assessing and monitoring fishery resources and implementing projects. However, specific data will show that there are particular areas where co-management was noted in certain sites, like for instance in Sindangan, where almost 59% reported that compliance is the joint task of the government, fishers and women. Also, in Leon Postigo, about 58% reported co-management in the study of the conditions and problems of fishery resources, while in Jose Dalman, 90% observed co-management in planning how to manage fishery resources. Examples of existing policies and institutions that support or inhibit co-management and identification of areas for strengthening The primary basis for the local ordinances of the municipalities covered in this report for the management and regulations in the use of the municipal waters are the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act 7160) and the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 (Republic Act 8550). One of the major avenues by which participatory management is promoted is the creation of the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management iv Council (MFARMC), which is a multi-sectoral body tasked to formulate policies that concern the effective and sustainable development and use of coastal and marine areas. Except for Liloy, which was not available during the fieldwork, the municipalities of Jose Dalman, Leon Postigo, Salug and Sindangan had their respective fishery ordinances in accordance to the provisions of the Local Government Code and the Fisheries Code. Without the national law as the legal basis the local legislative bodies cannot formulate and enforce some mechanisms to ensure the sustainable development, conservation and management of their fishery resources with the active involvement of a multiplicity of stakeholders. The attitudes and perceptions of fishers to formal and traditional management systems and conflict resolution system The prevailing preference among 65% of the fishing households surveyed is that conflict around fishery resources should be resolved amicably in the community by local leaders only, while about 9% said that this should be brought to court and resolved according to the provisions of the law. Interestingly, 26% believed that conflict will just die out as time passes by without settling them, either through the formal or traditional management systems or conflict resolution system. This perception was most prevalent in Jose Dalman. Stakeholder practices in current management systems and recommendations for improvements Almost 47% of the respondents observed that the local government units have strongly enforced the regulations pertaining to the protection and conservation of fishery resources together with the active participation of fishers either as individuals or associations. Those who said that only the government is strong in enforcement constituted only 16% while a larger percentage lamented that there were no existing regulations being implemented (25.31%) and only the fishers were enforcing some regulations but without the support of the local government (11.79%). As a whole, the co-management system in enforcement was not working well and much has to be done in order for the local government units, the fishing sector and other stakeholders can work together. Current systems for conflict resolution Almost 60% of the respondents said that the parties who are aggrieved over the utilization of certain fishery resources usually seek the intervention of local leaders. Although this validated the earlier sentiments that conflicts should be resolved within the local level, the percentage of those who said that aggrieved parties usually go to court and file cases cannot be just be put aside (30.71%). Only about 9% said that nothing is being done to resolve the source of conflict. Gender roles and responsibilities Generally, only almost 35% of all the respondents observed that the following community activities such as cooperative work with manual labor, school meetings, political meetings, church meetings and all their related activities; preparing food for group work; and protecting and conserving the environment are shared responsibilities. But manual labor and political meetings are generally the domain of men, while school meetings, church meetings and food preparation were tasks handled by women. Interestingly, 86% noted that protecting and conserving the environment is shared in the community by men and women. v Current types of stakeholder involvement in fisheries management The immediate stakeholders of resources within Sindangan Bay are the fishing households because their means of livelihood depend upon the quality and amount of resources within the bays. Some are members of the bantay dagat, FARMC and fishers associations. From the government, the stakeholders are the Department of Agriculture- Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Interior and Local Government through the Philippine National Police and PNP-Marine Group, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development that particularly looks into the welfare of women and minors in the fishing industry. Meanwhile, the various academic institutions of higher learning that included Mindanao State University- Naawan and De La Salle University had been involved and are interested in the protection and conservation of the resources within Sindangan Bay. Perceptions of fishers and resource managers relating to the state of fisheries resources and allocation of benefits from fisheries Almost 61% of the respondents perceived the fishery resources within Sindangan Bay have deteriorated mainly because these were continuously abused in response to the seemingly uncontrollable growth of human population that has to be fed even through illegal fishing methods. The encroachment of big or commercial fishers into the municipal waters who compete with the poor subsistence fishers was reported, although this was overruled by the majority who reported that encroachment