Activities for marine protection lined up

• Source:http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2016/05/16/1583696/activities-marine-protection-lined
• Monday, May 16, 2016 12:00 am

By Romiel Franz C. Gallego (The Freeman)

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - 7, in line with the celebration of the Month of Ocean this May, has arranged activities aimed at protecting and conserving the diverse coastal and marine resources in Central Visayas.

During a discussion organized by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) last May 4, Mario Aragon, Conservation and Development Division of DENR-7, disclosed the autonomous reef monitoring structure (ARMS) has been deployed to Panglao, Bohol this month.

ARMS is a device designed to mimic the structural complexity of a coral reef and attracts marine life. It is created to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, abundance, and community structure of fauna that exist in protected or concealed microhabitats.

In 2014, scuba divers from DENR's Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) simultaneously installed one unit each of the autonomous reef monitoring system (ARMS) in underwater sites off Carabao Island in Cavite, Mactan Island in Cebu, and Snake Island in Palawan to culminate the Month of the Ocean celebration. ARMS has also been deployed in Cordova, Cebu.

BMB Director Theresa Mundita Lim said the device will be used initially for educational purposes only. The units will be left underwater and retrieved, after which all organisms found on or within the unit will then be extracted and analyzed by biologists.

"These will be presented to the community to give them an idea about the marine life in their vicinity which will, hopefully, encourage them to help in the conservation and protection of our marine ecosystems," she said. Freeman ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

After retrieval, the ARMS will be redeployed for further study. The BMB planned to increase the number of ARMS units in specific sites to provide additional data for research purposes until the recent disclosure of deployment in Bohol.

The provincial government of Cebu through the Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force (CPAIFTF) and in collaboration with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), DENR, Philippine National Police (PNP), local government units and volunteers, continue to promote the importance of protecting the seascape.

On the other hand, the Coastal Law Enforcement Alliance Region 7 (CLEAR-7) will continue to strengthen their seaborne patrol operation especially at the Tañon Strait, the largest protected seascape in the Philippines.

The Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS) is an important migration corridor founded in 1998. The area is home to essential marine species such as dolphins, whales and butanding, among others. It is also one of the major fishing grounds providing income to residents in places surrounding the straight.

Despite the straight being a protected area, illegal fishing activities are still being recorded. During CLEAR-7's seaborne operation last year, four illegal fishing activities were found and cases were filed subsequently, one of which is now in court.

Just last week, around 1,620 kilos of dynamited fish valued at more than P243,000 were confiscated by the CPlAFTF and the police in Barangay Estaca, Compostela town late Wednesday night.