Coral Cay Conservation Proposed Marine Protected Area Report Gudan Liloan, Southern Leyte, Philippines August 2015 Head of Science: Alex Ferguson, [email protected] Project Scientist: Shannon Cameron, [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................ 6 CORAL CAY CONSERVATION ................................................................................................. 7 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 8 1.1 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Marine Reserves (MRs) .................................................... 8 1.2 Coral Reefs & Marine Conservation in the Philippines ............................................................. 10 1.3 Characterisation of Study Region .............................................................................................. 12 1.3.1 Southern Leyte and Sogod Bay ............................................................................................. 12 1.3.2 Barangay Gudan, Proposed MPA site .................................................................................. 12 2. METHODS ............................................................................................................................................. 13 2.1 Survey Site .................................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 Biophysical Survey ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Fish ....................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Invertebrates ........................................................................................................................ 15 2.2.3 Substrate .............................................................................................................................. 15 2.2.4 Impacts ................................................................................................................................. 16 2.3 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 16 3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1. Fish ............................................................................................................................................. 17 3.2 Invertebrates .............................................................................................................................. 21 3.3 Substrate..................................................................................................................................... 22 3.4 Anthropogenic Impacts .............................................................................................................. 23 3.5 Qualitative Assessment of ‘Olly’s Wall’ ..................................................................................... 24 3.5.1 Fish ....................................................................................................................................... 24 3.5.2 Invertebrates ........................................................................................................................ 24 3.5.3 Substrates............................................................................................................................. 24 3.5.4 Anthropogenic Impacts ........................................................................................................ 24 4. VISUAL ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................... 25 5. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................... 27 5.1 Fish .............................................................................................................................................. 27 5.3 Substrates ................................................................................................................................... 29 1 | P a g e © Coral Cay Conservation 2013 6. RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................. 32 6.1 Recommended Scenarios for Gudans Marine Protected Area ................................................. 33 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 36 APPENDIX: TARGET SPECIES LISTS ............................................................................. 38 2 | P a g e © Coral Cay Conservation 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) conducted an assessment of the reef fish, invertebrates, substrates and anthropogenic impacts at the Barangay Gudan in the Municipality of Liloan. The site has been proposed as a potential Marine Protected Area (MPA). An enhanced Reef Check methodology was used to complete biophysical surveys of four 100m transects, each containing four 20m replicates. Transects were equally divided between depths of 6m and 12m. A qualitative assessment was carried out at the popular dive site ‘Olly’s Wall’ which, due to the gradient of the slope, is unsuitable for Reef Check survey methodology. Fish abundance was highest at transect three, with significantly more fish than transects one and two. There were no significant differences in fish diversity between transects. Abundance of fish observed at ‘Olly’s Wall’ was low, however diversity was high with almost all target species recorded. Commercially important species of Parrotfish, Groupers and Snappers were recorded in low abundance across the site with no individuals greater than 30cm in length. Grouper were entirely absent from transects one and three; those recorded were all less than 20cm in length. The highest abundance of commercially important fish families was recorded at transect two. Invertebrate abundance was significantly highest at transects three and four. Invertebrate diversity did not significantly differ between transects. Abundance and diversity of invertebrates at ‘Olly’s Wall’ was very high, with almost all target species recorded. Rare sightings of fish and invertebrates across the site included a blue-spotted ribbontail ray, giant frogfish, spotted eagle ray and flamboyant cuttlefish. Sand was the most commonly recorded substrate recorded during the biophysical survey followed by rock and hard coral. Transects two and four had the highest percentage cover of hard coral, although this was still relatively low in comparison to a ‘healthy’ reef. The same transects also offered a high percentage cover of rock. ‘Olly’s Wall’ yielded a wide variety of substrates, the most abundantly observed were anemones, followed by soft coral, black (whip) coral and hard coral. Anthropogenic impacts were observed to be moderate – high. A high abundance of fishing and general trash was recorded both during the biophysical survey and qualitative assessment of ‘Olly’s Wall’. Coral damage was also observed upon occasion. 3 | P a g e © Coral Cay Conservation 2013 The low abundance and complete absence of some commercially important fish and invertebrate species indicates that fishing pressures are too high to sustain a healthy population. This is a threat both to the reef and the community of the Barangay Gudan. Based on the results of this survey, three MPA implementation scenarios have been outlined ranging between the highest and lowest chance of success; all scenarios would benefit from the inclusion of marine reserve buffer zones restricting all but hook and line fishing. It is recommended that consultation be started between the local community, municipal and provincial government and CCC on the creation of a marine protected area. 4 | P a g e © Coral Cay Conservation 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Coral Cay Conservation would like to express our gratitude to the Provincial Government of Southern Leyte (PGSL). Our work would not be possible without the support of the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resource Management Office (PENRMO), the Provincial Tourism Office and other members of the PGSL. We would also like to thank the Barangay Council of Gudan and the Municipality of Liloan for facilitating the MPA assessment. In particular we would like to acknowledge the cooperation of Ma’am Benita Dipay, Liloan Municipal Agricultural Technician and the honourable Captain Albert, Barangay Captain of Gudan. We would also like to thank our trained volunteers, staff and scholars who collected vital data during this proposed MPA assessment. 5 | P a g e © Coral Cay Conservation 2013 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CCC : Coral Cay Conservation CoTs : Crown of Thorns Seastars (Ancanthaster planci) IEC : Information and Education Campaign IUCN : International Union for the Conservation of Nature LGU :