Resource enhancement: Concepts, learnings, and future directions

Fish and fishery products are always in high demand causing pressure on world fish supply. The world’s wild capture fisheries resources ultimately reached its peak around the early 90s and plateaued at around 90 million tonnes. The stagnancy in wild fisheries production poses an alarm to the ever-growing human population. Fortunately, at around the same time, aquaculture production has filled some gap in seafood supply with over 100 million tonnes produced annually. However, there are various concerns about aquaculture and its sustainability. This is where the idea of aquatic resource enhancement comes in, not only to increase fish yield for food but also to compensate for losses caused by anthropogenic interventions, while promoting environmental rehabilitation and conservation. Resource enhancement, as a whole, can include various concepts on sustainable development, habitat conservation and improvement, ecological management, and aquaculturebased stock enhancement. This paper highlights the development of some resource enhancement programs worldwide and provide some examples particularly those from the Southeast Asian Region. We will attempt to tackle some successes and failures, as well as review past and recent experiences to extract important learnings. Based on these lessons, future directions of how resource enhancement initiatives can be made more efficient and sustainable. As a general rule, we recommend that in order to increase chances of success for programs on resource enhancement, it has to be science-based, there needs to be inclusive and participatory planning and management involving all stakeholders and adheres to responsible culture practices. Moreover, there should be concurrent efforts in reducing fishing pressures, as well as in protecting and rehabilitating natural ecosystems

A preliminary study on the diagnosis of coral reef healthiness and establishment of coral replenishment technology

Abstract only.Field surveys for coral reef through line-intercept-transect (LIT) and temperature profiling using data-loggers were done at three layers of 5, 10, and 15 m depths in coral reef areas, Nogas Island, Anini-y, Antique, Philippines. Preliminary data based on the LIT survey showed that both coverages of substrates by any type of organism and by Scleractinia decreased in the deeper layers. For Scleractinia, Porites sp. occurred predominantly in all the depth layers with the occurrence decreasing with depth. Temperature fluctuation was largest in the 5 m depth layer, where effects of tidal level were also confirmed. While the average temperature decreased with depth, this did not differ beyond 1°C between 5 and 15 m layers during November 2012 to March 2013. Fragments of the Porites sp. and Acropora sp. were sampled and transferred to aquaria at the Tigbauan Main Station of SEAFDEC/AQD. Acropora sp. sampled from the deepest layer alone showed bleaching and thereafter, a part of the fragments regained the color. Experimental trials to clarify the effects of ocean acidification and warming on the health of the coral using the live fragments of Porites sp. showed decreasing trends in both photosynthetic rates and daily growth rates in acidic condition (pH = 7.6), while decrease of zooxanthellae density was observed under warmer conditions (31°C ) for one month. A new methodology for the determination of density of zooxanthellae was established using the fragments of Porites sp. In this study, the need for studies on several coral communities as well as further basic research on coral biology, particularly, responses to the changing environments are discussed for diagnosis of coral reef healthiness and establishment of effective coral replenishment technology

Community-based shrimp stock enhancement for coastal socio-ecological restoration in the Philippines

The reality of declining quality of coastal areas has been evident for many developing countries, especially in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, rural coastal zones and estuaries are now being characterized by declining wild fisheries resources and degrading environment. This paper presents, as an example, the typical rural coastal towns of New Washington and Batan in Aklan province, Philippines and showcases how the concept of shrimp stock enhancement can provide incentives to restore the environment and provide sustainable fishing livelihood in the area. The New Washington-Batan Estuary in northeast Panay Island, Philippines was a productive fishing ground that has been in a state of degenerating brackishwater fisheries and estuarine environment. Average daily catch composed of various species decreased from 24 kg in 1970s to 0.7 kg at present. Shrimp fisheries, the most important livelihood, declined in quality and quantity. The highly-priced and once very abundant tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon was replaced with smaller-sized and lower-priced species like the Metapenaeus ensis. These can be attributed to the conversion of 76% of mangroves to culture ponds in the past 50 years and more than 400% increase in fishing gears since the 1990s. The need to reduce fishing structures and rehabilitate mangroves is evident. However, these drastic changes directly affect fishers livelihood. This paper explores the prospects of P. monodon stock enhancement as positive reinforcement for the estuary s rehabilitation. Number of gears per fisher may have to be reduced but shrimp catches will be relatively high-priced. Simulations with additional tiger shrimp caught due to stock enhancement show that fishers can increase income by more than 4 times from their current PhP 34 gear-1 day-1. Campaigns on the importance of mangrove especially as shrimp habitat can encourage local communities to reforest the estuary especially in abandoned ponds. With effective management, law enforcement, and sustained support from different sectors, shrimp stock enhancement can be a positive strategy in estuarine rehabilitation and livelihood sustainability in the New Washington-Batan Estuary

Handbook of mangroves in the Philippines - Panay

A 106-page guide is a user-friendly presentation of technical botanical description and illustrations of Philippine mangrove species in Panay Island, Guimaras and Aurora Province. Vegetative and reproductive structures of 34 mangrove species that are readily observed in the field are emphasized and presented in color photographs and as graphic icons. Also discussed: importance of mangroves; mangrove decline and legislation; conservation and rehabilitation; and mangrove-friendly aquaculture

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Improving artisanal fisheries through community-based prawn stock enhancement in a mangrove estuary

Tropical seafood, especially prawns, have always been in high demand with high market prices. Because of this, wild prawn resources are often overfished as indicated by the increasing number of fishers, but with overall declining catch volume and sizes through the years. Prawn aquaculture has, as of course, significantly contributed to the total yield in the past decades. However, the expansion of farms and ponds has often negatively affected the natural nursery grounds in the estuaries and mangroves. The economic gains from aquaculture are limited only to those who invested. However, local communities and artisanal fishers are often deprived of such gains. They are still reliant upon the dwindling natural stocks of fisheries resources. This is where the concept of stock enhancement comes in, wherein hatchery-produced juveniles are released into the water body in order to increase capture fisheries yield for local fishers. In this talk, I will present the case of the tiger prawn Penaeus monodon stock enhancement in the New Washington Estuary (NWE), in Aklan, central Philippines. The NWE was a productive fishing ground providing >24 kg/gear/day of catch in the 1970s but steadily declined to 400%. However, in order to sustain the prawn fisheries and optimize the benefits, long-term management plans by all stakeholders are needed, especially between the communities and the local government