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  WWF 3 Mar 06
Overfishing in the Philippines threatens whale sharks and local fisheries

Donsol, the Philippines – A one-year study conducted by WWF shows that 32.5 per cent of commercially-important fish species are being overfished, threatening the livelihood of thousands of fishermen and an important whale shark population.

Swimming with whale sharks is contributing to the economy of the Philippines. According to government statistics, some 7,000 tourists travelled to Donsol, some 500km southeast of the capital, Manila, in 2005 to visit the “gentle giants”, earning some PHP35 million (or US$623,000).

“The fish catch rate is too high that the potential for fish stock to replenish itself over time is getting more difficult,” said Ruel Pine, head of the WWF Community-Based Ecotourism and Coastal Resource Management Project in Donsol.

The municipal fisheries sector yields an annual harvest of 1,350 metric tons, which includes scads, sardines, mackerel, tuna and other fish. The intrusion of commercial fishers in municipal waters puts the total fish catch per year at around 12,000 metric tons.

“Municipal fishing is now geared towards a condition of economic overfishing,” Pine added. “This means that additional investment to fishing operations doesn’t yield additional fish catch or income to local fishermen.”

WWF is also working with local fishing communities on a fisheries management plan which will address such marine issues as illegal fishing and the exploitation of fishery resources — issues that could effect the whale shark's habitat and overall future in Donsol’s waters.

“The management plan and the ordinance will set in-place mechanisms that will promote pro-active protection and exploitation of its coastal resources,” said Pine. “Law enforcement is central to this plan.”

END NOTES:

• The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the world’s largest living fish, measuring up to 14m and weighing in at 125 tons. Despite its name and enormous size, the whale shark is not a whale, but classified in a family of its own — Rhincodontidae — with its closest relatives being leopard sharks and nurse sharks.

• The waters around Donsol are part of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas ecoregion, one of WWF's Global 200 ecoregions — a science-based global ranking of the world's most biologically outstanding habitats and the regions on which WWF concentrates its efforts.
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