The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has invested more than P1.9 billion or roughly USd46.5 million to support Philippine marine biodiversity conservation in addressing the problem of overfishing, habitat degradation, and  illegal, unregulated and unsustainable fishing practices.

This development partnership, according to US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg, will surely increase fish stocks in Philippines oceans, rehabilitate critical fish habitats, support modernization of fisheries management, and mitigate conflicts over natural resources.

Speaking before hundreds of MMSU students and employees in a Sept. 4 forum at the Teatro Ilocandia, Goldberg assured that this project, which was launched in 2012, will include Ilocos Norte coastlines in addition to the nine areas that are already benefiting from it.

Goldberg said this project seeks not only to enhance the conservation and management of Philippine coastal and marine resources areas, but also to replenish the marine life of biodiversity areas in the country.

Aside from Ilocos Norte, the other key areas identified are Palawan, Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, Lagonoy Gulf in Bicol region, San Bernardino Strait in the Leyte-Samar region, Sulu archipelago, the Verde Island passage in Batangas, and the Danajon Double Barrier Reef spanning Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Southern Negros Occidental, and Surigao.

“The project is designed to contribute to the priority goals and actions laid out in the Philippine Development Plan for 2016 in the areas of sustainable fisheries, as well as in the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources,” said Goldberg. He added that the project also supports the current US country assistance strategy with regard to reducing threats to biodiversity, and improving natural resources and the environment.

As a whole, the USAID-funded project aims to improve the management of important coastal and marine resources and associated ecosystems that support local economies through biological diversity conservation, ecosystem productivity enhancement, and restoration of fisheries profitability.

This P1.9 billion project for the marine fishery sector, according to Goldberg, will enable the government, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to rebound and sustain the country’s marine resources, and strengthen conservation and competitiveness initiatives.

Anent to this, Goldberg said that Secretary of State John Kerry gathered key leaders from government, science, industry, and civil society for a two-day conference last June  in Washington, D.C. to explore the significant challenges that the Philippine oceans are facing today such as acidification, unsustainable fishing practices, and marine pollution, among other things.

“This is just the latest chapter in decades of US-Philippine cooperation on ocean protection that we are doing,” Goldberg said.

Meanwhile, one way by which the United States and the Philippine environment conservation agencies, such as the DENR and BFAR, can save the oceans is the installation of underwater Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in the identified marine biodiversity conservation sites.

The ARMS will be provided by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with the USAID and the Biodiversity Management Bureau of DENR.  

ARMS provides a systematic, consistent, and easy way to monitor marine reef habitats and species.  Since the NOAA program began in 2008, more than 850 ARMS have already been installed throughout the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans.  

The installation of the ARMS in the Philippines is part of a long term plan by the US and Philippine governments to deploy more ARMS units in protected marine areas in order to strengthen biodiversity monitoring.