An Overview Of Our Solution
Fishing Communities Seek Security in Disaster-Resilient Aquaculture and Mangrove Restoration
Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
海洋/海岸
Community Type
乡村的
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: 亚洲
Problem
Describe the problem
The project transforms idle and abandoned fishponds into productive farms by popularizing mangrove-friendly, disaster-resilient tie-crab fattening technology that involves a technique of tying crabs with a buoy individually in bamboo poles that are staked two meters apart in the farm thereby enabling fishing households to continue with livelihood activities despite storms and rising sea-levels. The project also protects existing mangrove forests and planted native mangrove species in strategic sites in abandoned fishponds and surrounding areas through mangrove protection and restoration technique thereby restoring aquatic biodiversity,increasing coastal livelihoods and food, and protecting coastal villages from extreme climatic events.
Biodiversity Impact
The project creates sustainable fisheries and promotes ecosystem health through improved livelihoods and increased food security, conserved biodiversity of aquatic resources, and unity in resource use among municipal fishers. Tie-crab fattening as a profitable social enterprise enables fishing households to sustain and double their monthly income from US$65 to US$130 despite occurrence of storms and rising sea-levels due to climate change. Planted native species of mangroves in denuded mangrove areas and protected existing mangrove forests result into improved aquatic habitat where native fishes, crustaceans and mollusks begin to proliferate. Tie-crab fattening technology also contributed to decrease in fishing pressure in the already fishery-depleted municipal waters as tie-crab farmers devote half of their time to manage tie-crab farms unlike before when they even catch and kill fish juveniles and spawners through destructive fishing methods. Enhancement of crablet stocks had been significantly increased through the project’s policy of releasing all gravid mudcrab being fattened and discovered in tie-crab farms for spawning into the wild. Likewise, catching of “fly-size†or undersized crablets was prevented through enforcement of provincial mudcrab ordinance. Before, the fishing households compete for fisheries and other aquatic resources through open sea capture fishing, now they equitably share all harvestable resources from tie-crab farms and surrounding areas through a system of communal sharing and collectivization of fishery benefits.
Solution
In 2004, Trowel Development Foundation, Inc, implemented the ISLA CORAL Program in the Municipality of Lavezares. It initiated the enactment of municipal fishery ordinance (MFO) that established 31-hectare municipal fish sanctuary, declared 100-hectare regulated fishing area in Lalaguna Bay, and banned encroachment of settlement in mangroves areas. Through the MFO, destructive fishing methods like dynamite fishing, used of fine-meshed nets, and ƒ??sudsodƒ?? that indiscriminately scours mangroves and destroys aquatic habitats were declared illegal. As a matter of policy and commitment, project partners are actively involved in strict enforcement of MFO by conducting regular patrolling of municipal waters, managing municipal fish sanctuary, and regulating fishing activities in Lalaguna Bay, among others. Mangrove protection and restoration is also a major project component and involves planting native species of mangroves in strategic locations in abandoned fishponds and its surrounding areas. The project partners also applied for Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement with Department of Environment and Natural Resources which empowered and gave them right to protect and responsibly use aquatic resources in existing mangrove forests. Mangrove-friendly and climate-adapted tie-crab fattening technology was also popularized among the beneficiaries that enabled them to utilize idle and abandoned fishponds and other suitable areas in the mangroves for fattening of mudcrab without cutting mangrove forest and or destroying fish habitats. // The resources accessed and made available to project initiative were only adequate to cover 366 hectares of protected, maintained, and or restored mangrove forest involving five barangays in the municipality of Lavezares. In the early part of this year, however, the project expanded to the municipality of Rosario with two barangays added and covered an additional 120 hectares of protected, maintained, and or restored mangrove forest. With funding available for project implementation until December 2012, it is expected that about 1038 hectares will be fully covered by the project by involving an additional seven barangays in the municipalities of Lavezares and Rosario.
Replicability
How many years has your solution been applied? 4 years // Have others reproduced your solution elsewhere? Yes // Co-management scheme was institutionalized in the project undertaking. This entailed recognition of all local stakeholders and relevant players in project implementation, engaged them in accordance with their important roles and functions in the project, and ensured their active involvement in the whole process of decision-making. Institutionalized co-management arrangement among all project partners based on clear management policies, systems and procedures strengthened the sense of ownership of the project by all local stakeholders and relevant players and hence ensured sharing of project resource requirements and delivery of counterpart financial, materials, manpower and other resources to the project in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement signed by all project partners. Participatory project management not only empowered all project partners in terms of upgraded knowledge, skills, and values that are pertinent to project undertaking. It also enhanced collective leadership in project implementation manifested in complementation of each one’s assets, expertise, and capabilities, synchronized undertaking of project activities, and sustained commitment and participation in project execution, continuation, and expansion. Lastly, the values-based Passing on the Gifts (POG) approach was institutionalized wherein original recipients of project assistance were required to pass same amount of assistance to their chosen pass-on families. In the long term, POG is being promoted and popularized as a regular habit of residents in coastal communities.
Human Well Being and Livelihood Impact
Tie-crab fattening as a profitable fishery enterprise enables fishing households to sustain and double their monthly income from US$65 to US$130 despite occurrence of storms and rising sea-levels due to climate change. Likewise, as a result of re-established and improved aquatic habitat, the fishing households are able to harvest about three kilograms of native fish and shrimps as well as collect a basketful of native seashells each week and augment the food consumed by their families. A kilo of fish normally costs US$2.67 while a kilo of shrimp costs US$4.45, and a basketful of native shells is sold at US$2.20. Children are also able to earn US$2.5 - 4 during weekends by gathering seashells which they sell to tie-crab farmers as mudcrab feeds. Now, the children are able to continue with their schooling as they help their parents provide for their own school needs. Initially, the project directly benefitted 250 fishing households with 3000 dependents in late 2008 to early 2009. Early this year, additional 218 fishing households with 1526 dependents were added as direct beneficiaries. The target of this project which will be implemented until December 2012 is 2,000 fishing households with about 14,000 dependents. In the long term, it is expected that the 20,000 subsistent fishing households with 120,000 dependents found in the province of Northern Samar will be directly or indirectly benefitted by the project in terms of technology training, marketing of lean and robust crabs, availing of soft loan, among others. // This project emphasized participatory project management, monitoring and evaluation. This enabled leaders of community-based organizations to actively engage in project planning and project execution. As a requisite, the project conducted leadership training courses that upgraded competencies and capabilities of members of both fisherfolk associations and women livelihood associations and enabled them to actively participate in decision-making processes, and perform their mandated roles and functions in the project undertaking. A project management council was constituted and composed by representatives of fisherfolk associations and women livelihood associations, local officials, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), University of Eastern Philippines, and Trowel Development Foundation, Inc. Mangrove protection and restoration in strategic areas in abandoned and idle fishponds, and establishment of tie-crab farms in suitable areas in the municipal waters are now incorporated in the Birilarosa Protected Seascape and Landscape Program of Northern Samar. While the solution was adopted by fishpond owners in Northern Samar, small-scale fishers of Calauag, Quezon were trained on the technology, and scientists from South East Asia Fisheries Development Center concurred with its replicability, it is unfortunate that we did not document who and how many actually replicated our solution for lack of resources to do it. It is interesting to note that FAO recognized and cited tie-crab fattening in their website