Success and Failure of Marine Protected Area Management Affecting the Fish Catch by Adjacent Fishermen in Sarangani Bay, Mindanao, Philippines

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely advocated as one of the most important tools for conservation and fishery management. Four MPAs were studied: Glan Padidu, Kapatan, Kamanga and Tuka. The status of these MPAs was assessed based on MPA management, ecological health of the coral reef and the productivity of fishermen. Status of MPA management was determined by interviews with the MPA managers and actual validation of the information through actual visit of the areas. Interviews with the fishermen living adjacent to the MPAs were conducted to determine their productivity before and after the MPA establishment based on the catch per unit effort (CPUE). The CPUE of the fishermen increased after five years of well managed MPAs. However, failure in MPA management in two MPAs, followed by the cessation of protection of the areas in 2009, has decreased the CPUE. On the other hand the noninvolvement of the local fisher folks in management of Kamanga MPA created some misunderstanding and unfavorable perception of the fishermen. For them this MPA did not help increase their CPUE as they are allegedly prohibited to fish around the protected areas. Tuka MPA which is relatively well managed among the three MPAs shows an increase in the CPUE of the fishermen