CEBU - The Department of Agriculture plans to minimize fish harvest to help save the only documented double barrier reef in Southeast Asia —the Danajon Bank, which covers parts of Cebu.
This move is intended make it one of the pilot sites of a United States-funded project on coastal and fisheries resources management.
According to the DA’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development under its Fisheries for Improved Sustainable Harvest project.
The Danajon Bank, which comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge, is considered a very rare geological formation.
The Danajon Bank cuts across 16 municipalities and two cities in the four provinces in the Visayas.
These municipalities are Tubigon, Clarin, Inabanga, Buenavista, Getafe, Bien Unido, Trinidad, Ubay, Pres. Carlos P. Garcia and Talibon in Bohol; Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova in Cebu; Matalom, Bato, Hilongos and Hindang in Leyte; and Maasin in Southern Leyte.
The bank was believed formed over a period of 6,000 years owing to a combination of favorable tidal currents and coral growth in the area.
Danajon’s double barrier reef is a larger and better-defined structure than other known double barrier reefs in the world.
Local officials and FISH experts will work together to establish a sound foundation for the management of fisheries and coastal resources to save the Danajon Bank, which has deteriorated as a result of overfishing and pollution, he said.
In a report to DA Secretary Arthur Yap, BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. said FISH is a seven-year technical assistance project funded by the USAID and implemented in partnership with the DA, BFAR, other national government agencies, local government units and non government organizations.
— AJ de la Torre (CIT Masscom intern)/BRP (THE FREEMAN)