Talim Bay Coastal Resources Management Project

      Maintaining Talim Bay’s biodiversity remains a challenge to local fishers given observed issues and concerns such as presence of wastes, destructive (cyanide and dynamite) fishing over extraction of marine resources, sedimentation/siltation due to mountain quarrying near the bay, and the destruction and bleaching of coral reef. These activities result to depletion of marine resources and inadequate income of fishers who depend mainly on the marine resources in Talim Bay. To date, one coastal community in Talim Bay has been operating more than a year of community based-ecotourism initiative as an alternative income generating for fishers.

      Consistent with the goal to maintain Talim Bay’s biodiversity and sustainably manage its marine ecosystem, various stakeholders agreed for the deployment of an artificial habitat in Talim Bay’s marine protected area with the community as the resource manager. On August 1, 2017, representatives from LGU Lian (MENRO-LIAN), DLSU-COSCA and SHORE, PUSOD, Inc., Lian Fisherfolks Association, Inc, and Samahan ng Maliit na Mangingisda ng Binubusan (SMMB) planned activities that will help restore the fisheries in Talim Bay. The local fishers will primarily be responsible for the construction of the artificial habitat. DLSU-COSCA and SHORE will provide for the necessary technical science-based information. The 60-day project which started on September 20 – October 15, 2017 was implemented in three (3) different sites deploying one thousand twenty (1,020) artificial habitat of different designs in the marine protected area.

      Stakeholders such as DLSU-SHORE-COSCA, divers, and local organizations of fishers continue to monitor and check the status of these artificial habitats.