Economic potential and ecological vulnerabilities of the fishery resource of Bacon district, Sorsogon, Philippines

Ecological safeguarding is essential in the face of the aggressive stance of the government to promote development along various areas. This is crucial in as much as economic development attained at the expense of the fragile environment is meaningless and unsustainable. The Rapid Resource and Social Assessment of Bacon District by the City Government of Sorsogon is a bold step to address scarcity of research-based inquiries regarding the status of fishery resources at least for the Bacon sector only, and the first comprehensive account for a coastal part of Albay Gulf. The research undertaking made use of participatory resource assessment. The principal coastal habitats of a typical tropical marine ecosystem are found in Bacon District: coral reefs, extensive seagrass and seaweeds and mangroves. Their presence in sound states in Bacon District is a competitive advantage of the place against the impacts of many environmental challenges. Overall, the three habitats are in sound state, except to some signs of disturbances especially to corals inside Sogod Bay, which were reduced to rubbles due to blast fishing in the past. Siltation is also high in Sogod Bay and also a threat to a good coral assemblage off Sto. Niño and Osiao due to erosion of immediate upland periphery. The capture fisheries of Bacon District is a multigear type which harvests various species of mainly coastal and oceanic pelagics and hard bottom demersal fishes. Peak fishing operations happens from February, when the northeast monsoon weakened, up to June, prior to the onset of the southwest monsoon. Bulk of the fishing trips and 64% of the municipal fisheries production of the district is generated during this period. The fishing gears have diversified from 20 types in 1998 to 33 at the present time, a signal of increasing fishing intensity and scarcer resources. The coastal waters of Bacon District, Sorsogon City characteristically supports more production of the marine organisms because of the diverse plankton community and good water physical characteristics. Salinity, pH, temperature, turbidity and conductivity complied to DAO-34 standards set by DENR-EMB. The fisherfolks of Bacon District are original Bacongnons, mostly Catholic, have an average residency of 23 years and majority are elementary and high school graduates. The mean household size is 6.45 members. They have been fishing on an average of 24.17 years, and presently exert fishing intensities of 10.15 months per year, 3.19 weeks per month, 4.93 days per week and 1.43 times per day. Illegal fishing perpetrators are claimed to be people from outside of the respondents' barangay [village]. The local government unit is viewed as the one responsible in stopping illegal fishing through its FARMC and law enforcement authorities.