2007 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 91-115
In the Philippines, community-based coastal resource management (CBRM) has evolved into a new ear of development. Under the legitimate framework of Fisheries Code 1998 and Local Government Code 1991, local government unit (LGU) holds a greater responsibility for aquatic resource management in municipal territorial waters. With the decentralization of fisheries management, fisheries and aquatic resource management councils (FARMCs) are anticipated to work effectively at barangay (village) and municipal/ city levels, through people's and resource users' greater participation in the decision-making process of coastal resource management. Their past practices and experiences on CBRM activities provide a profound insight into the organization and activity of FARMCs. In the meantime, local government units have created their own institutional framework of FARMCs to fit in with local reality of fisheries management and resource utilization. In the Banate Bay, Panay Island, four municipalities join together to organize a resource management council to have function over its whole area in which fishers utilize common resources. Banate Bay Resource Management Council, Inc. (BBRMCI) was established in 1996, as a type of cross-municipal FARMC. Sharing responsibility with local government units, BBRMCI functions as a management body of coastal resource management in registration, licensing, planning, and zoning. It also acts as a monitoring, controlling and surveillance (MCS) in collaboration with government agencies. Four municipalities entrust some parts of administrative works on fisheries resource management to BBRMCI, by allocating operation funds and dispatching staff. People have positive views towards the BBRMCI’s activities. Illegal fishing is reduced in number. Destructive fishing gears have been replaced by resource-friendly ones. Providing alternative livelihood projects may be helpful to fishers, to avoid increasing in excessive catch effort. It is widely acknowledged that BBRMCI’s experiences bring a viable model on a far wider area of coastal waters.
