Marine experts from the Marine Science Institute (MSI) and the Institute of Biology (IB) of UP Diliman College of Science urged the national government and other funding agencies to invest in maritime monitoring technologies and marine biodiversity research.
In a forum at the IB Auditorium on May 13, MSI Director Laura David said that frequent monitoring is necessary to protect the marine resources in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and to ensure that Filipino fisherfolk can utilize the resources there.
“[It’s important] sa Philippines na mayro'ng access sa gano'ng data para naman ma-monitor ‘yung medyo high resolution na AIS (automatic identification system) [at] malalaman mo kung nasaan ang aling barko,” said David.
David added that as long as the Philippine government has access to those data and can monitor if many ships have already swarmed in one place, the ID numbers of the ships present can always be seen.
Recently, the Philippine Coast Guard found dead corals dumped in the Escoda Shoal and claimed that it is an indication of China’s early-stage reclamation activities there.
A 2021 study by Chinese scientists suggested that crushed corals can be used as land fillers for engineering purposes, such as the construction of airports and land reclamation projects.
Meanwhile, overfishing, oil spills, plastic accumulation, land use, and reclamation, combined with climate change cause the degradation of marine ecosystems, which results in a “significant decline in fish assemblage” in WPS, David presented her team’s findings in the forum.
IB Faculty and marine biologist Jonathan Anticamara suggested that amending the Fisheries Code, and rebuilding and managing the fish stocks are the solutions to the decline in catch.
The Fisheries Code mandates certain fishing seasons, but the government has struggled to implement this. Small fishers, meanwhile, blame big-ticket fishers as the main cause of the decline of fishing stocks in the country.
In the same forum, marine scientist Fernando Siringan shared that research activities of MSI in the past years were funded for the studies at WPS saying that a major factor is for the country to have additional presence in those waters.
Siringan also showcased the Pagasa Island Research Station, a working and operational marine station on the island that provides facilities for all visiting scientists and researchers through basic equipment for both lab and fieldwork.
The marine scientist, on the other hand, encouraged marine experts and the government to work together, knowing that while the job can be accomplished alone, “it is much better if [to] do it with others.”
“Pero hindi sapat na mabigyan [lamang] ng pondo para sa iilang taon at magkaroon ng barko na kailangang i-o-operate at i-maintain. Kailangan ng pondo na naka-built-in sa paggalaw ng mga gumagamit nito,” said Siringan. ●
