Davao Gulf houses diverse marine ecosystems that support the fisheries activities of the entire Region XI. A study through the National Stock Assessment Program from 2004-2013 was conducted to provide baseline information on the stock condition and the level of exploitation of the commercially important small pelagic fishes in Davao Gulf.
The results showed that commercial fishing contributes to about 88% of the annual average landed catch in the region. Ring net (in payao or free-school) and bag net are the only commercial types of fishing gears operating in Davao Gulf with average production per year of 3,069.62 MT, 199.25 MT, 122.21 MT respectively.
Moreover, RNp is the major gear catching Selar crumenopthalmus which is 32% of the total landed catch followed by Decapterus macarellus at 16%. Similarly, Mene maculata dominated the catch of RNf by 41% while most catch of BN is composed of Auxis rochei, Rastrelliger faughni and D. tabl. Species composition data indicated the bulk catch of these commercial gears is small pelagic fishes. However, the average CPUE of these gears showed a decreasing trend. The most evident decline occurred in 2013 with a drop of almost 70% in the CPUE of BN. Heavy fishing pressure is manifested since the annual harvest and the relative abundance of the small pelagic fishes generally decreased.
Likewise, L50 declined in which smaller sizes of fish are being caught as commercial gears are exploiting the juveniles. Most of the commercial fish catch has not attained maturity. The length frequency data also showed that E-values of these small pelagic fishes range from 0.51-0.86/year, an indication of exploitation above the optimum level. Consequently, the potential yield estimates already surpassed the allowable catch limit and fishing effort in both Schaefer and Fox models.
The study suggests that Davao Gulf is in the state of over exploitation due to intensified fishing operations. This calls for intervention and policy implementation to conserve and manage the fishery resources in Davao Gulf.
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