Protection of tuna nursery, deep sea corals in Benham Rise pushed
Press Release Date: May 12, 2016
Conservation needs to be balanced with fisheries and minerals exploration in Benham Rise, which covers the Philippines’ newest territory, according to environment advocates. The area is part of the spawning grounds of the highly valuable Pacific bluefin tuna.
Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of the unexplored seamount, is one of the traditional fishing grounds of coastal dwellers on the northeastern coast of Luzon, according to Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Asis Perez. However, the area is also “a hotspot for poachers, especially long-liners from neighboring countries,” he added.
The government’s National Payao Program in Benham Bank from 2013 to 2015, along with a tuna fisheries assessment last year, are part of government efforts to exercise control over Benham Rise, said Perez. “We have to proclaim to the world that this area is ours,” he added.
Payao is the local term for fish aggregating devices made of palm fronds and other materials that attract schools of fish. Albacore tuna were the dominant species in 2015, while big-eye tuna were more bountiful in 2013, Perez said during a forum at the University of the Philippines (UP) last month co-sponsored by Oceana Philippines.
With its wealth of marine resources, there is a need to craft a management framework for Benham Rise, said Jay Batongbacal, director of UP’s Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea. The area includes the extended continental shelf, the Philippines’ newest territory recognized by the United Nations’ Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2012.
The highly prized Pacific Bluefin tuna are known to swim to the US and Mexico, but come back to spawn in the western Pacific including Benham Rise, according to fisheries expert Jose Ingles of WWF-Philippines. He said there is a huge potential for ecosystems preservation in Benham Bank to protect commercially valuable fish species, noting that bigeye tuna is already overfished. “This can be our contribution to the global economy,” Ingles said.
The Biodiversity Management Bureau announced plans to organize a workshop on management strategies for the sustainable use of resources in Benham Rise, as there is a need for complete baseline assessment of the region. One of the options being considered is to propose the declaration of Benham Rise as a marine managed area, with Benham Bank as the core zone with protected status, and the rest as exploration areas.
Marianne Pan-Saniano, marine scientist of Oceana Philippines, said Benham Bank is blanketed with coral assemblages, sponges, and algae. Organisms in what is known as the mesophotic zone, found at depths of up to 150 meters, can tolerate low light penetration. The underwater plateau serves as a refuge and nursery for many economically important fish.
Shared resources
During the first oceanographic exploration of Benham Bank in 2014, marine scientists found more than 50 species of fish and a thick cover of tiered plate corals, reported Edwin Villar, deputy executive director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), which funded the trip.
The research team led by UP scientists was able to dive for 25 minutes and film at a depth of 50 meters. At a recent training for marine scientists on how to use the baited remote underwater vehicle system (BRUVS) to measure fish populations, Villar said the agency’s partnership with UP, BFAR, the Coast Guard, Oceana, and the Philippine Navy for a planned expedition this month is “one modality in exploring our shared resources.”
Oceana Philippines is providing BRUVS, remotely operated vehicle, and technical diver-videographers during the expedition to allow scientists to film the marine resources in Benham Bank more extensively.
Marine biologist Euan Harvey said BRUVS is now one of the most common methods used worldwide for counting and measuring the length of fish. It uses footage from two cameras attached to a frame with fish-bait at the center, and specially licensed software to analyze the maximum number of fish seen at any one time. This method avoids the problem with double counting of fish that occurs in manual transect surveys, he said.
The system was first used in Apo Island in the Visayas to assess the impact of two successive typhoons in 2011 and 2012 on the coral reefs in a marine sanctuary, according to fisheries scientist Rene Abesamis from the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management.
Researchers found that coral cover in the island’s no-take zone had gone down from 70 per cent to 3 per cent, with most of the dead coral fragments and boulders rolling down to deeper areas 80 meters down . Abesamis said BRUVS is useful in studying deeper reefs and doing long-term research for a wide range of fish habitats.
Conservation needs to be balanced with fisheries and minerals exploration in Benham Rise, which covers the Philippines’ newest territory, according to environment advocates. The area is part of the spawning grounds of the highly valuable Pacific bluefin tuna.
Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of the unexplored seamount, is one of the traditional fishing grounds of coastal dwellers on the northeastern coast of Luzon, according to Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Asis Perez. However, the area is also “a hotspot for poachers, especially long-liners from neighboring countries,” he added.
The government’s National Payao Program in Benham Bank from 2013 to 2015, along with a tuna fisheries assessment last year, are part of government efforts to exercise control over Benham Rise, said Perez. “We have to proclaim to the world that this area is ours,” he added.
Payao is the local term for fish aggregating devices made of palm fronds and other materials that attract schools of fish. Albacore tuna were the dominant species in 2015, while big-eye tuna were more bountiful in 2013, Perez said during a forum at the University of the Philippines (UP) last month co-sponsored by Oceana Philippines.
With its wealth of marine resources, there is a need to craft a management framework for Benham Rise, said Jay Batongbacal, director of UP’s Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea. The area includes the extended continental shelf, the Philippines’ newest territory recognized by the United Nations’ Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2012.
The highly prized Pacific Bluefin tuna are known to swim to the US and Mexico, but come back to spawn in the western Pacific including Benham Rise, according to fisheries expert Jose Ingles of WWF-Philippines. He said there is a huge potential for ecosystems preservation in Benham Bank to protect commercially valuable fish species, noting that bigeye tuna is already overfished. “This can be our contribution to the global economy,” Ingles said.
The Biodiversity Management Bureau announced plans to organize a workshop on management strategies for the sustainable use of resources in Benham Rise, as there is a need for complete baseline assessment of the region. One of the options being considered is to propose the declaration of Benham Rise as a marine managed area, with Benham Bank as the core zone with protected status, and the rest as exploration areas.
Marianne Pan-Saniano, marine scientist of Oceana Philippines, said Benham Bank is blanketed with coral assemblages, sponges, and algae. Organisms in what is known as the mesophotic zone, found at depths of up to 150 meters, can tolerate low light penetration. The underwater plateau serves as a refuge and nursery for many economically important fish.
Shared resources
During the first oceanographic exploration of Benham Bank in 2014, marine scientists found more than 50 species of fish and a thick cover of tiered plate corals, reported Edwin Villar, deputy executive director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), which funded the trip.
The research team led by UP scientists was able to dive for 25 minutes and film at a depth of 50 meters. At a recent training for marine scientists on how to use the baited remote underwater vehicle system (BRUVS) to measure fish populations, Villar said the agency’s partnership with UP, BFAR, the Coast Guard, Oceana, and the Philippine Navy for a planned expedition this month is “one modality in exploring our shared resources.”
Oceana Philippines is providing BRUVS, remotely operated vehicle, and technical diver-videographers during the expedition to allow scientists to film the marine resources in Benham Bank more extensively.
Marine biologist Euan Harvey said BRUVS is now one of the most common methods used worldwide for counting and measuring the length of fish. It uses footage from two cameras attached to a frame with fish-bait at the center, and specially licensed software to analyze the maximum number of fish seen at any one time. This method avoids the problem with double counting of fish that occurs in manual transect surveys, he said.
The system was first used in Apo Island in the Visayas to assess the impact of two successive typhoons in 2011 and 2012 on the coral reefs in a marine sanctuary, according to fisheries scientist Rene Abesamis from the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management.
Researchers found that coral cover in the island’s no-take zone had gone down from 70 per cent to 3 per cent, with most of the dead coral fragments and boulders rolling down to deeper areas 80 meters down . Abesamis said BRUVS is useful in studying deeper reefs and doing long-term research for a wide range of fish habitats.