Download PDF Copy - Pemsea

S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t A s p e c t s
Food Security and Livelihood Management
026 Fisheries Production
Description
This indicator measures the trend in fisheries production and
tries to estimate whether fisheries stocks are sustainable
(using changes in catch composition and/or the frequencies
of various sizes per species).
Rationale
The increasing fish catch would mean either greater
dependence of the population to fisheries resources or
improved condition of resources.
Data Requirements
• Municipal (small scale), commercial (large scale) and
aquaculture fishery production
• Size and composition of fish catch
Results
Figure 15 charts fishery production in Batangas from 1995 to
2007. Large fluctuations in the data and significant increases
in both commercial and municipal fish are apparent for the
years 2006 and 2007. Anecdotal reports suggest that flooding
in 2006 caused fish spillage from aquaculture structures,
which may have contributed to the increase in municipal
fish production in the same year. Nonetheless, the reason
behind the apparent increases in fishery production in 1997
and again in 2007 is not clear. Unfortunately, it cannot be
determined whether the observed increasing municipal and
commercial fish catch is related to changes in fish landing
locations, changes in intensity of fishing effort, or changes
in catch composition, since no information on the major fish
species caught and catch per unit effort (CPUE) over time
was available. Similarly, a steady increase in aquaculture
production has been observed, which may be directly
attributable to the reported conversion of mangrove areas
into fish ponds.
84 State of the Coasts of Batangas Province