Reef Deterioration

Yesterday’s SCUBA diving activity with a friend and students in two coral reef locations in a bay in the northwestern part of Palawan, the Philippines’ Last Frontier, made me feel so sorry for the sad state of a once abundant resource. I said ‘once’ because there are remnants of an extensive reef which could have sufficiently supplied the needs of the adjacent coastal communities that depend on it for survival. Only a few grazers (herbivorous fishes) could be seen, and these are small. Virtually no large predatory fishes could be found to indicate a healthy food chain. There is no reason then to be afraid of sharks, because sharks could not live in such a fish poor environment.

Tabulate coral with very few juvenile fishes

Grazers crop the corals of algae which serve as their food. Because of this activity, corals stay healthy because otherwise uncropped algae will stifle coral reef growth in due time. When algae are not consumed, they grow to such sizes and lengths that block the rays of the sun, which will prevent the photosynthetic algae embedded in the corals use to keep the corals alive and incrementally increase its size. This results to growth of opportunistic algae that will overrun the reefs and shift to another community with relatively lesser fish productivity.

The Outcome of Overfishing

Overfishing, that is, removing even the grazers in the food chain can bring coral reefs towards degradation and reduce fish productivity. Simply put, no large fish could be obtained in such reefs. When this happens, fishers will travel great lengths of the sea to search for larger fishes, hopefully in undisturbed reefs. The cycle goes on, and fishes become more difficult to obtain. Due to the higher cost of obtaining them considering that more fuel will have to be used to reach and fish still viable reefs with large fishes in it, fish prices go up. This results to less profit for the fishers.

Fishes constitute more than 60% of Filipinos’ staple food. These are readily obtained and relatively cheaper compared to meat products. But as fishes become more difficult to obtain, fish prices also approach, and even surpass the price of beef or pork. Thus, life becomes more difficult both for the fishers and the end consumers.

Lack of Seriously Implemented Policy

In the 1990s, Palawan was known for ‘successful’ coastal resource management projects that aim towards helping fishers manage their coastal resources in a sustainable manner. All has been said and done but it appears that none of these projects have effectively carried out its noble goal. The national government has crafted comprehensive laws that will serve as guide to local governments to keep their coastal resources in a way that will enable future generations to enjoy what the present generation enjoys. But the symptoms are evident that apparently these projects are just fairy tales that make people think all is well when in fact it is not.