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Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · Philippines · 1982

Apo Island reserve raised fish biomass 3 to 4.5 times; Sumilon fell when closed

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

A village on Apo Island in the Philippines closed part of its reef to fishing in 1982, and fish biomass in the reserve rose three to 4.5 times. At nearby Sumilon, biomass fell 42.7% within a year after protection ended, which raises the question of whether gains last once protection is lifted.

What?
Apo Island's village closed about 10% of its reef to fishing in 1982, and target-fish biomass in the reserve rose three to 4.5 times in 9 to 18 years. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (JCU repository)
Where?
Apo Island and Sumilon Island, Philippines Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (JCU repository)
When?
Reserve closed in 1982; Sumilon protection ended in 1984; typhoons in 2011 and 2012; Edge Davao report in July 2013. Edge Davao (PNA)
Who?
Gained
Lost
Harmed
  • Fishers outside the Apo Island reserve — Annual catch outside the reserve fell from 150 to 15 tonnes after the 2011 and 2012 typhoons Edge Davao (PNA)
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Part of the reef closed to fishing as a village reserve, with biomass measured over time. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (JCU repository)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

A village on Apo Island closed about 10% of its reef to fishing in 1982, and target-fish biomass in the reserve rose three to 4.5 times over 9 to 18 years, according to a 2005 study in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

At nearby Sumilon, biomass fell 42.7% within a year after protection ended in 1984 and recovered when protection returned, the same study reported.

Typhoons in 2011 and 2012 cut the annual catch outside the Apo Island reserve from 150 tonnes to 15 tonnes and left most of the 24-hectare reserve reef as rubble, Edge Davao reported in July 2013.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a campaign claim that biomass at Apo Island rose 27-fold; the peer-reviewed measurements cited give three to 4.5 times.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say how many fishing families gave up fishing grounds, or whether they were compensated.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the economic value of the reserve or who received its benefits.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Researchers

    1. Measurement of Apo and Sumilon marine reserves
      Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (JCU repository) · 2005
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Biomass, root-to-shoot ratio, carbon fraction
    Biomass is the dry weight of living plants per hectare. The root-to-shoot ratio adds the weight of roots. The carbon fraction is the share of that weight that is carbon, about 47% in tropical forests.
    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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