Political will needed to save ecosystem, says German adviser
A German consultant of the Visayan Sea project said that political will is needed to address the disturbed ecological system of the region.
Dr. Jan Michael Vakily said political leaders should come up with a decision in order to save the seas and protect the marine species in the Visayan sea. “If degradation continues, the people would end up fishing algae and would only eat algae cake.”
Vakily is formerly connected with the GTZ, a German company which conducted a study on the Visayan Sea. They made a scientific evaluation of the Visayan Sea two years ago. He believed the degradation is much worse today.
Vakily explained that there are conspicuous signs of a disturbed ecological system along the Visayan Sea and a strong indication of depleted marine resources.
Ecosystem is like a pyramid, high valued fishes are on the bottom and smaller fishes on the top, he said.
Vakily said there is already a decrease on the quantity of large fishes such as lapu-lapu and maya-maya. The mass occurrence of the squid is also an indication that the ecological system is disturbed. The smaller fishes were not allowed to mature in its size before they are immediately catched.
Vakily attributed the decrease of the marine species to overfishing, destruction of the fish sanctuaries and pollution. The commercial fishers are much to be blamed for the overfishing, he added.
He said stiffer imposition of fishery laws has “social implications” on the concerned local government unit. It is very costly for the government to implement the laws considering the size and distance of the waters.
Vakily added that it also requires the willingness of the people to accept the laws regarding fishery. If the people are hungry and the only way to resolve their hunger is to catch fish, they would still catch the fish even if it does not yet reach maturity.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 6 director Sonia Seville said Western Visayas is still self-sufficient of fish and other fishery products.
However, the fishery sector has still much to improve as 30 percent of the region’s catch is exported to the US, Canada and other European market.
The director said the shortfall on the fishery needs of the people could still be addressed through rural aquaculture and urban aquaculture.