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Fisheries Refugia – a Novel Approach to Achieve Healthy Ecosystems in the South China Sea LME

GEF/UN Environment South China Sea Fisheries Refugia

By IW:LEARN

June 28^th, 2019

The South China Sea (SCS), including the Gulf of Thailand (GoT), is a global center of shallow water marine biological diversity that supports significant fisheries that are important to the food security and export income of Southeast Asian countries. These fisheries are characterized by high levels of fishing effort from the small-scale sector. Accordingly, all inshore waters of the SCS basin are subject to intense fishing pressure. Growing global demand for fisheries products, coupled with strong coastal community dependence on fisheries, is driving continued increases in fishing capacity and effort.

An obvious impediment to the reduction of inshore fishing effort is that small-scale operators are often entirely dependent on fish for income, food and well-being. The most important fish species are considered fully fished or over- exploited. As a result of 'fishing down marine food webs', small pelagic species now dominate landings as most demersal fisheries are overfished. Consequently, the investment of time and household expenditure on fuel for fishing has increased in coastal communities attempting to secure adequate dietary nutrition and income from fishing.

This situation of high small-scale fishing pressure and declining fisheries resources has contributed to the adoption of unsustain- able fishing methods to maintain catch and increase incomes in the short-term. These include the use of destructive fishing gear and practices, such as the operation of demersal trawls and push nets in seagrass areas, and the detonation of explosives and release of fish poisons in coral reef areas. Small-scale inshore fishing pressure has therefore been identified as a significant cause of the degradation and loss of coastal habitats in the SCS.

Although action aimed at reducing the rate of loss of coastal habitats has been implemented by countries bordering the South China Sea, the decadal rate of loss of such habitats remains high, e.g., seagrass beds (30 percent), mangroves (16 percent), and coral reefs (16 percent). This continued decline in the total area of habitats critical to the life cycles of most aquatic species, combined with the high levels of coastal community dependence on fish, has raised serious concerns for the long-term sustainability of small-scale fisheries in the region.

With fish production being intrinsically linked to the quality and area of habitats and the heightened dependence of coastal communities on fish, a need exists to improve the integration of fish habitat considerations and fisheries management in the region. The dilemma for the fisheries and environment sectors is that conservation of habitat does not necessarily result in increased fish stocks while lowering fishing effort does not necessarily result in the improvement of habitat. Therefore, given the complexity of the key threats to fish stocks, fish habitats and associated biodiversity in Southeast Asia, it is imperative that mechanisms for effective cross-sectoral consultation and coordination be established, particularly in terms of the identification and designation of priority ‘places’ for management.

The fisheries refugia concept defined as “Spatially and geographically defined, marine or coastal areas in which specific management measures are applied to sustain important species [fisheries resources] during critical stages of their life cycle, for their sustainable use” was developed as a novel approach to the identification and designation of priority areas in which to integrate fisheries and habitat management. The effectiveness of the fisheries refugia concept in harnessing stakeholder support for the use of area- based planning to strengthen the integrated management of critical fishery and habitat linkages is highlighted. Importantly, applying of fisheries refugia concept in fisheries management - as a means of building the resilience of fish populations to the effects of over-fishing, which is especially relevant regionally in terms of food security - was adopted by the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2006.

The adoption of Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded, United Nations Environment Programme implemented and Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) executed for the South China Sea Initiative on “Establishment and Operation of a Regional System of Fisheries Refugia” addresses the regional need not only to ensure the food security, nutritional security, and maintenance of livelihoodsthrough enhancing fisheries resources but to protect critical marine habitats in the Southeast Asia. Up to date, the project is implementing in partnership with six ASEAN Member States (AMS) namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam bordering the SCS and the GoT. The 15 priority fisheries refugia along the coastal area of SCS and GoT are identified through series of stakeholder consultative meetings in respective country. Specifically, the Project addresses required management plan for transboundary species such as short mackerel (Rastrelliger brachysoma) and frigate tuna (Auxis thazard) which will be developed by end of 2019 in collaboration with other partners. The lessons learned from project are shared to other ASEAN Member States through the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Strategic Partnership Program (ASSP) and ASEAN Fisheries Consultative Forum (AFCF).