A ‘fishful’ homecoming

Forty years ago, the fishers of Barangay Segapod, Maigo, Lanao del Norte could catch as much as 60 kilos a day by using simple fishhook or hand line fishing gear. Back then, a total of 42 species of fish could be found in the Pontoron Reefs. By the 1980s, many of these species vanished as a result of illegal and destructive fishing practices.

Now, the fish are returning to the waters of the Barangay Segapod. Thanks to the Fisheries Resource Management Project (FRMP), members of the community have become responsive to their role in fisheries and coastal resource management.

Brgy. Segapod is one of 22 barangays covered by FRMP in Region 12. FRMP was formulated in response to the issues of fisheries resource depletion and persistent poverty among municipal fisherfolk. The project is focused on reversing fisheries resource depletion by controlling illegal and over-fishing. FRMP is a six-year project funded by the Asian Deve-lopment Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. It is being implemented by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) until 2005.

In the late ’60s, fishes in the Pontoron Reefs were very abundant. There were only a few fisherfolk then, and adjacent to the reef was once a good mangrove cover.

During the ’70s, a decline in fish production and catch was observed as the number of fishers increased. Their bigger number drove many fishers to use destructive fishing methods such as dynamite, cyanide with the aid of compressor, fine mesh nets and other illegal fishing practices.

In the 1980s, illegal fishing practices continued to proliferate. The 42 kinds of fishes that could be found during the ’60s became rare in the reef. This was when the fisherfolk, local officials and the community themselves saw the need to unite and undertake a common vision of restoring the bay which has become the life and blood of a great number of people in the area.

In the 1990s, the Fisheries Sector Program (FSP) was implemented in the area. With FSP came the idea of coastal resource management (CRM). For the fishers, it was the start of a long advocacy to reverse the degradation of their coastal resources. The fishers were organized into the Segapod Fishermen Association (SEGAFA) to stop illegal fishing practices. SEGAFA has since been transformed into the Segapod Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SMPC).

As a result of community organizing activities conducted under FSP, the fishers decided to establish a marine reserve. Norberto Sobisol, chairman of SEGAFA/SMPC and of the Segapod Barangay Council, said that "As a past recipient of an artificial reef and mangrove reforestation project during the FSP, we knew what benefits resource management would bring to our community."

Thus, the Segapod-Pontoron Fish Sanctuary was established, covering 18 hectares, with buffer zone of 100 meters, and is quite close to the shore.

With the establishment of the fish sanctuary, coastal resources have been rehabilitated. Organisms said to have long vanished in the area such as green turtles and some reef fishes like laya, a kind of grouper that can weigh as much as five kilos as an adult, can now be sighted in the sanctuary. Some species like the pawikan (tortoise), taklobo (giant clam), dolphins and sharks, almost unseen for a long time, are now visible as well in the sanctuary.

The reefs now have some 50 - 60 percent live coral cover, regenerated from the total damage witnessed in the ’70s. The fishers attest to having their catch increased from one kilo to 10 kilos a day with the use of hook and line, 20 kilos for pukot (fishing net), and at least 30 kilos with the use of other fishing gear.

Even fishers from neighboring barangays attest to the abundance of fish, even in the vicinity of the Segapod-Pontoron Reef Fish Sanctuary. The rich fishery resources also lured poachers from nearby provinces. Thus, to guard the sanctuary from illegal fishers, a Bantay Dagat group was formed to watch over the area.