THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS TO OVERFISHING IN THE BAY OF SAN MIGUEL, PHILIPPINES William D. Sunderlin ICLARM, Manila, Philippines ABSTRACT San Miguel Bay, traditionally one of the most productive fisheries in the Philippines, has for many years been showing serious signs of overfishing. Three main approaches have been taken to try to deal with this problem but have not yet been successful. Government regulations designed to prevent overfishing and the misuse of the marine resources, in particular controls over trawling in shallow water, have failed because of a variety of obstacles to efficient enforcement. Community-based fishermens' organizations have been formed in an attempt to promote self-regulation but lack of funds and equipment, low morale and commitment by members and political problems have combined to retard their progress. Programmes administered by the Government to offer alternative employment options to fishermen wishing to seek a new livelihood have had little impact because of the weakness of the fishermens' orgarrizations through which the programmes should optimally be channelled. The paper offers two proposals for the more effective and equitable management of the Bay's resources. The first calls for the reinforcement and, above all, integration of the three approaches already tried. The second and more crucial proposition underlines the need for the permanent legal institutionalization of the interests of the artisanal fishermen, in particular steps to ensure their proper representation on a proposed Fisheries management Courlcil for the Bay. 1. Introduction Competition for coastal resources and consequent overfishing have been the subject of much scientific research and policy attention in recent decades. This paper examines the problem of overfishing in San Miguel Bay, one of the most productive fisheries in the Philippines. The Bay is a shallow, estuarine gulf in the Bicol region of Southern Luzon (see Figure 1). There are approximately 92,000 people residing in the 74 coastal baranguy (villages) on the Bay. Of these, approximately 5 ,OOO-6,OO people fish for a living. Shrimp are among the prized species in the Bay's multi-species fishery. The vast majority of the Bay's fishers use gill nets and a miscellany of small-scale gears, while a minority make their living with the 200-300 trawl gears current y estimated to be in use. Research conducted in 1980 showed that the Bay was being overfished, in the sense that increased effort by either small (artisanal) fishers or by trawlers would not result in an increased catch from the Bay as a whole. Further research disclosed that the trawlable biomass had declined precipitously since 1947. Catch assessments carried out in 1993 tentatively indicate that the Bay is stilI overfished. Pacific Ocean Apuao a San San Miguel Bay New Caaluan Barcelonita Symbol : 4 Survey Villages Figure 1 : San Miguel Bay, Philippines There are three basic causes of the overfishing and decline of the fishery resource in the Bay. First, the population of the coastal municipalities has grown enormously from 121,324 in 1960 to 213,040 by 1990. Second, the introduction of trawls in the 1970s greatly increased the fishing effort and the competition for scarce resources. In 1980-81, the 95 "baby" trawlers in use in the Bay, representing three percent of the Bay's fishing units and seven percent of the fishery's labour force, earned 50 percent of that part of the profits going to fishers. Third, various activities in and around the Bay have depleted or degraded its resources, for example, the use of fine-mesh nets (which indiscriminately harvests immature fish), and blast-fishing, cyanide fishing, and the removal of coastal mangroves (which destroy ?sh habitats). This paper examines the three principal forms of interventioh implemented to-date to alleviate pressure on the Bay fishery, i.e. (1) government regulation of fishing gears and of Bay resources; (2) efforts by community-based fishers' organizations to protect the interests of small fishers; and (3) attempts by both the govemment and fishers' organizations to reduce fishing effort through nonfishing livelihood programs. These forms of intervention have not yet succeeded in reversing the trend toward overfishing and resource-depletion. The paper examines these forms of intervention and attempts to explain why the approaches have not yet accomplished their intended results. The paper concludes by making some recommendations for future management of the Bay based on analysis of efforts to-date in confronting overfishing. 2. Methodology Data on the three forms of intervention were obtained through surveys conducted in the course of a multi-disciplinary research project on San Miguel Bay. The 17-month project was carried out by the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARhi), in cooperation with the Fisheries Sector Project (FSP) of the Philippines' Department of Agriculture, with funding from the Asian Development Bank. Data on the status of fishers, on fishers' views of the three forms of intervention, and on fisher participation in organizations were obtained through a random survey of 536 fishing households in 12 of the 74 coastal baranguy. A "fishing householdwwas defined as one where the primary income-earner got all or most of hisfher income from fishing in the year prior to the interview. Data on govemment regulation were obtained from other sources, notably a suyey of key decision-makers in govemment management of the bay. Respondents included the seven municipal mayors, provincial and municipal-level officers of relevant government institutions (Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Maritime Police, Philippines National Police, and Coast Guard), the Vice-Governors of Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte, and the Governor of Camarines Sur. Information on fishers' organizations was obtained through a survey of 23 of the 44 existing organizations. 3. Government Regulation Various laws in force in the Philippines are designed to control overfishing and the misuse of coastal resources. It is widely acknowledged that the Philippine government has been unable to enforce these laws effectively. While there has been some degree of recent success in enforcement in San Miguel Bay, the success is limited. Trawling is viewed by local government officials and by fishers as the most pressing resource management issue in the San Miguel Bay fishery, the rapid growth in the use of trawl gears since the 1970s has increased the fishing effort, thus threatening the Iivelihoods of small nontrawl fishers. National law prohibits all trawling in waters shallower than four fathoms, and prohibits commercial trawling in waters shallower than seven fathoms. At the level of national law, trawling in general should therefore be restricted to the approximately 50 percent of the Bay's surface that is deeper than four fathoms, and commercial trawling is restricted to appioximately 11 percent of the Bay's surface that is deeper than seven fathoms. Local regulations may add to the restrictions imposed by national law. Under the Fisheries Law of 1975 (PD 704), trawling is permitted in "municipal waters" deeper than four fathoms only if authorized by a municipal ordinance. Only two of the Bay's seven municipalities authorize trawling through such ordinances. Notwithstanding these considerable legal restrictions, the operation of trawls inside the Bay has been virtually uncontrolled during most of the two decades since they were introduced to the Bay. The number of "baby" trawlers (between two and six gross tons) grew from 94 in 1980 to approximateIy 150 in 1986. Occasionally, violent eruptions of tensions between small fishers and trawlers have been reported. Since 1992, however, there has been considerable improvement in the enforcement of laws against trawling. For example, the mayor of the Municipality of Mercedes (Camarines Norte) and the Vice-Governor of Camarines Sur have led a crusade (named Bantay Dagat or "Defense of the Sea") to enforce laws against illegal fishing and have arrested and confiscated the equipment of several dozen trawlers operating illegally in the Bay. Most small fishers now view favourably the efforts of the government to manage the Bay. Though the Bantay Dagat has made a dedicated effort to control illegal trawling, there are limitations on its ability to control the problem. Illegal trawling is still rampant. Some trawlers escape arrest by operating under the cover of dark; others operate in the daylight but escape capture by receiving advance radio warning of efforts to arrest them. Other obstacles to effective enforcement are a lack of funds, equipment, and personnel for routine patrolling, lack of cooperation from some law enforcement officials, slowness and occasional corruption in the processing of legal cases against violators, and even death threats issued by people in commercial fishing interests. Apart from efforts to control trawling, the government has also attempted to alleviate pressure on the Bay through regulations on mesh size, and through laws against the use of dynamite and cyanide in fishing. Again the laws tend to be inadequately enforced due to lack of political will, insufficient funds and personnel, and shortcomings in the judicial system. Although efforts to regulate trawling have been more productive than regulation of other forms of illegal fishing, they fall far short of alleviating the threat posed to the Bay's fishers by overfishing. In nearly all twelve of the target villages, standards of living and levels of catch are now reported to be lower when compared to two years ago. 4. Community-Based Management There are 44 community-based fishers' organizations in San Miguel Bay representing approximately 1,000 fishers. Most of these organizations have been formed since 1985, partly in response to increasing pressure on the fishery by trawlers. Almost all these organizations are composed of, and function on behalf of, small fishers. Among their objectives are the provision of credit and loans, fishing assets, marketing outlets and nonfishing livelihood options.