Contribution of the Milkfish Floating Cage Culture Project In Bohol Fisheries Production 1.

Philippine marine fish catch (fish capture industry) between the period 1980 - 2012 has been characterized as generally increasing but erratic. Between said period of 22 years, there were several changes: a) improvement in the efficiency of fishing gears, b) increasing number of fishers, c) increasing number of motorized boats, d) expansion of fishing grounds from the nearshore towards the 15 km limit of municipal water and beyond, e) overfishing from the nearshore towards the 15 km limit of municipal water and f) fishing in the high seas to catch tuna and tuna-like fish. Marine fish catch in the Philippines

2. The erratic pattern of annual fish catch volume is said to be a sign of overfishing. But the onset of climate change as manifested by the occurrence of El Nino and La Nina phenomena has contributed to the significant annual increase and decrease of fish catch as shown in the Graph above. The peak production occurred in 1991-1992 (El Nino years) and lowest production level was in 1995-1996 (La Nina Years). The last peak production occurred in 2009-2010 (El Nino years) which was followed by an unprecedented significant decline in fish catch in 2011 and 2012. 3. At the provincial levels, both the fish catch in Bohol and neighboring Cebu have decreased from 2005 due to overfishing. But it is only Cebu municipal fish catch that kept on generally increasing

(except in 2010-2012) due possibly to the successful implementation of the fisheries management in the province. In Bohol, municipal fish catch has shown an increase between 2011 and 2012 which could be due to the easing in fishing pressure as the result of the implementation of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)s mariculture park in Maribojoc and community-initiated milkfish culture project in Dauis.

Density Map of the Philippines in 1988 and 2007/2009

4. Causes of overfishing are fish habitat degradation and too much fishing pressure to catch more fish to meet the fish demand of increasing population and lack of alternative source of income of the

fishersfolk. The Maps above indicate that Bohol with relatively lower population density is surrounded by Cebu, Leyte and Misamis Oriental with higher population density. 5. The milkfish floating cage culture project owned and operated by the fisherfolk organization registered as the Songculan Guso Farmers Association (SOGUFA) was increased in size between 2010 and 2012 as shown in the Google satellite map below. Increasing area of milkfish floating cage culture project and increasing number of Bearch Resorts in Brgy Songculan, Dauis, Bohol: 2010 to 2012

6.

Likewise, the number of beach resorts increased from 2 to 3 during the same period.

7. The development and improvement of the milkfish floating cage culture project and tourism (beach resorts) inDauis is in line with the thrust of Pres. Aquino in developing agriculture/fisheries, tourism and infrastructure.

8. Maps below show the project area of the Dauis project relative to the Manga Project in 2012. However, it is the Dauis project which is more protected from weather disturbances like typhoons.

Dauis project site is more protected than the Manga project site in Maribojoc Bay

9. The successful operation of the milkfish floating cage project in Dauis that was started as a demosize project in 2006 is due to adherence in the 4 elements of business: market, production or technology, management and finance which are integrated. 10. The market is not a problem given the decreasing volume of production from the fish capture industry. There is a need to produce more in the mariculture projects. In fact, the contribution of milkfish floating cage culture project in the total milkfish production is very small at 4% only.

Decreasing milkfish brackishwater pond culture production

Increasing milkfish floating cage culture production

Improvement in the facilities of BFAR hatcheries in Calape, Bohol: 2001 - 2012

Location of BFAR Hatchery project and Regional Farm (more than 4 kms distance) 11. The presence of BFARs Hatchery and Fish Farm in Calape Bohol has enhanced the production and technology aspect of the overall project. SOGUFA.s leading officer, Mr. Juanito Obispo, with long years of experience as practical expert in mariulture project provides technical services to individuals and organizations engaged in said project in Maribojoc Bay. 12. Management of the project is enhanced by the presence of Obispo who is also active in the fisheries management program being implemented in Dauis and Maribojoc Bay. Expansion of the project is made possible through income generated from the project and input from other sources. Prepared on March 2013 by: Edmundo Enderez