How do the intended beneficiaries of government-supported coastal resources management (CRM) programs assess the impact of said programs on their and the ecosystem's overall well-being? In a study where this Policy Notes was based on, the fishermen households themselves and not technical experts were asked how they perceive these CRM programs to have affected their lives and the resources in their ecosystem. Read on for some interesting answers.Fisheries Resource Management Project, coastal resources management, Panguil Bay, Fisheries Sector Program (FSP)

Israel, Danilo C.

English

Research Papers in Economics

Policy Notes
January 2004 No. 2004-01
PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE
FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Surian sa mga Pag-aaral
Pangkaunlaran ng Pilipinas
Does Coastal Resources
Management Help?
Ask the Fishermen!
Danilo C. Israel*
________________
*The author is Senior Research Fellow (on-leave), Philippine
Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and Project Scientist,
WorldFish Center–Cambodia office.
PIDS Policy Notes are observations/analyses written by PIDS research-
ers on certain policy issues. The treatise is holistic in approach and
aims to provide useful inputs for decisionmaking.
This Notes is based on the results of a project conducted by PIDS and
funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR). Ms. Jennifer
P.T. Liguton helped in repackaging this Notes. The views expressed
are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of PIDS or
BAR or any of the study's sponsors.
oastal resources management (CRM) has flour-
ished as a management approach for coastal
areas and resources in the Philippines. This is
shown in the phenomenal growth of CRM and
CRM-type of activities over the past two decades or so.
In some cases, large-scale and public-funded activities
have been continuously conducted in specific areas and
so some evidence of performance may already be avail-
able. It is therefore possible and timely now to make an
evaluation of the long-term impact of CRM as a manage-
ment approach.
In this connection, a study was recently conducted to
look into the impact of CRM in a selected site. In particu-
lar, the study investigates the long-term effect of a suc-
cession of CRM activities, namely, the Fisheries Sector
Program (FSP) and Fishery Resource Management Project
(FRMP), undertaken over many years in Panguil Bay in
Mindanao. The study is unique in that instead of assess-
ing impact in the eyes of technical people, it does so
based on the perspectives of the intended final benefi-
ciaries of CRM, the fishermen households.
The results of said study are summarized in this Policy
Notes. How fishermen households perceive of the long-
term impact of CRM says a lot about the political accept-
ability of the approach in the coastal areas and should
count when government contemplates the pouring in of
additional public investment into such endeavors.
Panguil Bay and CRM undertakings:
a background
Panguil Bay is located in North Central Mindanao and
bordered by the provinces of Lanao del Norte in the east
and Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental in the
west (Figure 1). It is shaped like a canine tooth from
where it derives its name. The Bay has a water area of
18,000 hectares and a total catchment area of 309,738
hectares that is traversed by various rivers from two moun-
tain ranges.
CJanuary 2004 2
Policy Notes
As in the case of other coastal water bodies in the coun-
try, Panguil Bay has been experiencing resource deple-
tion over the years. In addition to this, interacting socio-
economic, environmental, institutional and political pres-
sures have been manifesting themselves in Panguil Bay.
Among others, these problems include worsening envi-
ronmental degradation, deepening poverty among coastal
fishermen, and overall poor and ineffective coastal re-
sources management. It was against this backdrop that
the national government implemented major CRM activi-
ties in the area. Between 1990 and 1994, the FSP, a
large-scale effort financed through loan assistance from
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Overseas
Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan, was imple-
mented. The program aimed to attain sustainable fisher-
ies management through a package of policy and institu-
tional reforms and strategic interventions for the purpose
of rationalizing the utilization of fisheries resources (ADB
1989). Overall, the FSP covered Panguil Bay as well as
11 other bays throughout the country.
Figure 1. Map of Mindanao showing the provinces bordering Panguil Bay
  PANGUIL BAY No. 2004-01 3
Policy Notes
When the FSP ended, the FRMP, another large-scale CRM
undertaking with funding assistance from the ADB and
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), was
implemented from 1998 to 2003 to continue and follow-
up on the gains of FSP. Its objectives were to promote
conservation and sustainable management of the coastal
fisheries resources by reversing the trend of fisheries
resource depletion in municipal fisheries and to reduce
the extensive poverty of fisherfolks in coastal areas by
promoting income diversification that will reduce the reli-
ance of coastal communities on fishing and increase their
incomes and living standards (FRMP 2002). In addition
to the original 12 bodies of water covered by FSP, the
FRMP was implemented in seven more coastal areas in
the country.
Measuring the fisherfolks’ perception
In analyzing the long-term performance of CRM in the
eyes of fishermen, the study employed the Baseline De-
pendent Approach methodology that used fishermen
households as the units of analysis. In this case, the
long-term impact of CRM was viewed in terms of its ef-
fects on the impact indicators representing the overall
well-being of both the human and nonhuman elements of
the ecosystem. Said elements were represented by the
household and resource well-beings. Other impact indi-
cators were also considered, including access to re-
sources, control over resources, ability to participate in
community affairs, ability to influence community affairs,
community conflict, community compliance with resource
management, and the amount of traditionally harvested
resources in the water.
Perceptions of fishermen households, represented by the
fishermen household heads, on the changes in the afore-
mentioned impact indicators between the time before
CRM activities were conducted 10 years ago (Before) and
the present (Today), and between the present and the
future or 10 years from now (After), were then gathered
through a survey. With the use of a questionnaire, the
degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the fishermen
households over certain propositions relating to the im-
pact indicators was ascertained.
The study assumed that the households have the ability
to make dependable judgments on the change in the
impact indicators based on informed knowledge and ex-
perience on what is going on in their area related to CRM
in the span of time under consideration. The specific ar-
eas covered by the survey were selected coastal
barangays in Panguil Bay. The barangays were chosen
on the basis of their having experienced continued CRM
activities under both the FSP and FRMP from the early
1990s up to the time of the study. The actual respon-
dents of the survey were the fishermen household heads
in the barangays. In addition to perceptions, demographic
data were collected on the households for background
information.
In order to determine further if there was any difference
in perception among the fishermen households that were
beneficiaries of CRM (or households whose heads were
directly employed by the FSP and/or FRMP, received ben-
efits from the projects other than financial gains, and/or
attended trainings organized by the projects), said house-
holds were disaggregated from the survey’s total respon-
dent households and the same kind of analysis was then
applied on them.
...The study employed the Baseline
Dependent Approach methodology that used
fishermen households as the units of analysis.
In this case, the long-term impact of CRM
was viewed in terms of its effects on the impact
indicators representing the overall well-being
of both the human and nonhuman elements
of the ecosystem. Said elements were
represented by the household and resource
well-beings.January 2004 4
Policy Notes
Profile of fishermen households: an advantage
for CRM?
The demographic data indicate that fishermen households
in Panguil Bay were mostly Catholic, Cebuano, have lived
in their barangays for an average of 30 years, and have
sizes of five members. The household heads were on
average 39 years of age and have been fishing on aver-
age for 30 years, have elementary education, have no
plans to migrate and would prefer to be a fisherman again
even when given the chance to choose other livelihoods.
That the fishermen households in Panguil Bay were to a
significant extent homogeneous in faith and tongue is
favorable for CRM. In terms of community organizing, this
trait should help reduce social frictions. That the house-
holds have lived in the barangay for a long time and have
no plans to migrate elsewhere should also be an advan-
tage because of the permanence or continuity in the lo-
cal people targeted by the CRM activities. Being young
and dedicated to fishing are also positive traits since
these provide the vigor and interest among the fisher-
men in the long-term development of the resources on
which they depend on. Even the undereducation of the
fishermen should be taken as an advantage as it pro-
vides areas for improvement under CRM. That they are
educated at all at the elementary level means that they
can read and write materials about CRM and can be de-
veloped through further education and training.
With the fishermen households’ characteristics seen to
be predisposed to making a program like the CRM suc-
ceed, how well then has the CRM affected their lives?
From the point of view of the fishermen households, in-
cluding those who have been direct beneficiaries of the
program through employment in the program during its
implementation and participation in its training programs,
has the CRM achieved its overall goal of improving the
well-being of both the human and nonhuman elements of
the ecosystem that it was supposed to protect and im-
prove?
The fishermen’s perceptions
The analysis of the perceptions of fishermen households
shows that for the Today and Before comparison, fisher-
men households in Panguil Bay perceived that house-
hold well-being, resource well-being, local income, access
to resources, community conflict and harvest have dete-
riorated in the last 10 years. On the other hand, the house-
holds perceived that their control over resources and com-
munity compliance have improved in the last 10 years.
For the After and Today comparison, meanwhile, house-
holds in Panguil Bay perceived that household well-
being, resource well-being, household income, access to
resources, and harvest would also decrease in the next
10 years. In contrast, the results of the perception analy-
sis suggest that the households believed that control
over resources and community compliance would improve
in the next 10 years.
For the analysis of the CRM beneficiary fishermen house-
holds’ perception, the same statistical analysis done for
all households was also applied for the CRM beneficiary
households.
For their Today and Before comparison, Panguil Bay CRM
beneficiary households also perceived that household
well-being, resource well-being, local income, access to
That the fishermen households in Panguil
Bay were to a significant extent homogeneous
in faith and tongue is favorable for CRM.
In terms of community organizing, this trait
should help reduce social frictions. That the
households have lived in the barangay for a
long time and have no plans to migrate
elsewhere should also be an advantage because
of the permanence or continuity in the local
people targeted by the CRM activities.No. 2004-01 5
Policy Notes
resources, community conflict and harvest have deterio-
rated in the last 10 years. Similarly, like the overall fish-
ermen households, these distinct households likewise
perceived that control over resources and community com-
pliance have improved in the last 10 years.
For their After and Today comparison, the same pattern
as that for the overall fishermen households can also be
seen in that the CRM beneficiary households in Panguil
Bay perceived that household well-being, resource well-
being, household income, access to resources, and har-
vest would decrease in the next 10 years.
They likewise believed that control over resources, par-
ticipation in community affairs, and community compli-
ance would improve in the next 10 years.
In summary, the statistical analysis shows some inter-
esting results.
On the negative side, whether CRM beneficiaries or not,
fishermen households in Panguil Bay perceived that their
fish harvest, income and overall well-being have deterio-
rated in the last 10 years when CRM was in implementa-
tion and will continue to do so in the next 10 years. They
further believed that the well-being of the coastal re-
sources on which they depend on has likewise decreased
and will continue to decline in the future. Furthermore,
results indicate that other impact indicators have also
worsened and will continue to do so.
On the positive side, however, the fishermen households
consistently asserted that their control over resources
and community compliance to rules and regulations have
improved in the last 10 years of CRM and will continue
improving in the future. These results appear to speak
well of certain aspects of CRM, particularly the legal and
the monitoring and enforcement components.
Conclusions and implications for policy
In conclusion, the study asserts that assuming that the
perceptions of the fishermen households are reasonably
unbiased, the results indicate that although it has some
positive contributions, the CRM in Panguil Bay in general
has failed to attain its long-term objectives of improving
the well-being of fishermen households and the coastal
resources they depend on. This point is highly important
for policy because the future success of CRM depends
on its political acceptability and the faith in it among in-
tended beneficiaries. Because of this, the various prob-
lems faced by the CRM in Panguil Bay (some of the most
important were discussed in the full study but due to
lack of space, were not included in this Notes) have to
be seriously addressed if another large-scale publicly-
funded CRM project for the bay or similarly situated
coastal areas would be contemplated.
Finally, because of the phenomenal growth in CRM activi-
ties all over the country and the large amount of public
investment put into them, a thorough evaluation of its
impact and performance is called for. The study on which
this Notes is based serves as a starting point in ascer-
taining the long-term impact of CRM. Its major limitation,
though, is its use of household perceptions instead of
actual data as basis for analysis. This choice was made
due to the lack of reliable actual time-series data that
can be utilized to assess the long-term performance of
CRM.
Future activities should thus include efforts to refine im-
pact indicators of CRM performance, develop the vari-
...The study asserts that assuming that the
perceptions of the fishermen households are
reasonably unbiased, the results indicate that
although it has some positive contributions,
the CRM in Panguil Bay in general has failed
to attain its long-term objectives of improving
the well-being of fishermen households and
the coastal resources they depend on.January 2004 6
Policy Notes
For further information, please contact
The Research Information Staff
Philippine Institute for Development Studies
NEDA sa Makati Building, 106 Amorsolo Street
Legaspi Village, 1229 Makati City
Telephone Nos: 892-4059 and 893-5705
Fax Nos: 893-9589 and 816-1091
E-mail:  d.israel@cgiar.org; jliguton@pidsnet.pids.gov.ph
The Policy Notes series is available online at
http://www.pids.gov.ph
ables for their measurement, and monitor and record
changes in these variables over time for a more accurate
evaluation.      
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RPS 2003-01 Exchange rate policy in Philippine development
Romeo M. Bautista
33 pages. PhP42.00. ISBN 971-564-060-5
RPS 2003-02 Philippine domestic shipping transport industry: state of competition and market structure
Myrna S. Austria
90 pages. PhP185.00. ISBN 971-564-061-3
RPS 2003-03 College fee structure and Philippine inflation
Edita A. Tan
143 pages. PhP130.00. ISBN 971-564-062-1
RPS 2003-04 The Philippine innovation system
Epictetus E. Patalinghug
52 pages. PhP75.00. ISBN 971-564-063-X
List of Research Papers released in 2003
For a complete listing of the Institute's publications,visit our website at http://www.pids.gov.ph/publications/index.html. All publications, except books,
research papers and the journal, can also be downloaded for free from this site.

A review and evaluation of community-based coastal resources management in the Philippines,

Annual report. Quezon City, Philippines: Department of AgricultureBureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Evaluating factors contributing to the success of community-based coastal resources management: the Central Visayas Regional Project-1, Philippines.

Exchange rate policy in Philippine development Romeo M. Bautista 33 pages. PhP42.00. ISBN 971-564-060-5 RPS 2003-02 Philippine domestic shipping transport industry: state of competition and market structure Myrna S. Austria 90 pages.

Mangrove rehabilitation and coastal resource management project of Mabini-Candijay: a case study of fisheries co-management arrangements in Cogtong

Project profile of coastal resource management and related initiatives in the Philippines.

Report and recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on proposed loans and technical assistance to the Republic of the Philippines for the Fisheries Sector Program.

Does Coastal Resources Management Help? Ask the Fishermen!

http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pn/pidspn0401.pdf

Does Coastal Resources Management Help? Ask the Fishermen!

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