Status of Leyte Gulf Fisheries CYs 2001-2011

Leyte Gulf is among the major fishing grounds in the Philippines with a shelf area of 13, 147 km2 covering the islands of Samar and Leyte. For this reason, it was chosen as the study area in Eastern Visayas under the National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) which aims to assess the status of fisheries resources. This paper presents the fishery stock assessment results from CY 2001-2011. The annual fish catch from 2001-2011 showed a declining trend. The lowest was in 2008 with 12, 483.52 MT while the highest was in 2003 with 26,367.32 MT. The municipal fisheries had a high catch contribution except in 2001 where commercial catch was higher by 30%. Thirty eight (38) types of fishing gears were identified operating in Leyte Gulf. Danish seine (commercial, DSC) had the highest yield in the commercial fisheries sector while for the municipal fisheries sector it was gillnet (GN). The highest catch of DSC was observed in 2004 (4,243.30 MT) and the lowest in 2010 (1,203.05 MT). The highest catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for DSC was in 2004 (288.66 kg/boat landings) and the lowest was in 2010 (167.09 kg/boat landings). For GN, the highest catch and CPUE were in 2004 (3, 010.72 MT) and 2003 (8.27 kg/boat landings) respectively; while the lowest in catch and CPUE were in 2001 (339.37 MT, 4.05 kg/boat landings). The top ten (10) species caught belong to the families Leiognathidae, Carangidae, Nemipteridae, Scombridae, Gerreidae, Engraulidae, Mullidae, Synodontidae, Clupeidae, and Portunidae. The selected five (5) major stocks, which are Rastrelliger kanagurta, Leiognathus bindus, Gazza minuta, Selar crumenophthalmus, and Nemipterus hexodon were mostly abundant in the second half of the year. The percentage of catch at which they were caught before their length at maturity were as follows: 60% for R. kanagurta, 85% for L. bindus, 13% for G. minuta, 45% for S. crumenophthalmus, and 51% for N. hexodon