362 



Fishery Bulletin 104(3) 



grounds around Apo island and within a few hun- 

 dred meters of reserve boundaries. 



Materials and methods 



Study site 



Apo Island (9°4'N, 123°17'E) is located in the cen- 

 tral Philippines, about 7 km southeast of the large 

 island of Negros (Fig. 1). It is a small volcanic island 

 with a fringing reef area of 1.06 km- to the 60-m 

 isobath (0.54 km^ to the 20-m isobath). The island 

 is inhabited by a community of about 700 perma- 

 nent residents. The traditional source of income for 

 the community is fisheries. At present, about 100 

 residents are full-time or part-time fishermen who 

 use hook and line, gill nets, spear guns, and fish 

 traps, and target at least 60 species of reef fishes, 

 nonreef fishes, and some invertebrates. The major- 

 ity of local fishermen sell their catch to resident fish 

 buyers on Apo Island. Fish buyers, in turn, bring 

 the catch to Negros to sell in Malatapay town or 

 Dumaguete City. 



In 1982, a -450 m long no-take reserve (sanctu- 

 ary) was established informally by the local com- 

 munity on the southeastern side of Apo Island (Fig. 

 1). This reserve occupies approximately 10% of the 

 fringing reef area to the 60-m isobath (about 13% 

 to the 20-m isobath). The local community has ef- 

 fectively enforced protection of the no-take reserve 

 since 1982 (Russ and Alcala, 1999). In 1985-86, the 

 community formally approved a marine manage- 

 ment plan that incorporated the no-take reserve 

 (Russ and Alcala, 1999; White et al., 2002). The 

 management plan also prohibited destructive fish- 

 ing methods (e.g., dynamite fishing and muro-ami 

 drive-net fishing) and spear fishing with SCUBA. 

 Compliance by local fishermen and visitors with 

 these regulations has been generally good. Develop- 

 ment of local tourism enterprises has been encour- 

 aged by the Marine Management Plan. In the early to 

 mid-1990s, two small resorts that could accommodate 

 recreational SCUBA divers were established on Apo 

 Island. Recently, the local community implemented col- 

 lection of fees for diving in the no-take reserve and at 

 dive sites around the island. 



Apo Island is influenced by a northerly mainstream 

 current that is present for most of the year (Fig. 1). 

 This current presumably carries the food supporting 

 planktivorous fishes (e.g., Acanthuridae and Caesionidae) 

 that are abundant on the northern side of the island. 

 Predatory fishes such as Carangidae are also common 

 in this area. Apo Island is exposed to both the NE and 

 SW monsoons (Fig. 1). Local fishermen tend to fish the 

 northern side of the island during the SW monsoon (June 

 to September) and interim calm months (April, May, and 

 October; Bellwood, 1988). However, fishing intensity on 

 the northern side of the island may be reduced during 

 the NE monsoon (November to March; Bellwood, 1988). 



Philippines 



mainstream .^ ^ 



I — I 1 1 — I — I 500m 



"A" Village/Fisti landing site 



123"17'E 



Figure 1 



Apo Island, central Philippines, showing the no-take reserve 

 (shaded). Names of fishing grounds around the island are 

 italicized. Fishing grounds were grouped into "northern fish- 

 ing grounds" (N), "western fishing grounds" (W), and "fishing 

 grounds near Apo Reserve" (NR). The reef area of each of the 

 fishing grounds is outlined (0-20 m isobath). Within the fishing 

 grounds near Apo Reserve, the approximate positions of marker 

 buoys used to indicate distance from either the northern or 

 southern boundary of the reserve are shown. The major fish 

 landing sites were at Baybay, Ubos, and Cogon villages (stars). 

 Large arrows indicate the direction of the monsoons. Smaller 

 arrows indicate direction of the mainstream current. 



Data collection 



The catches of fishermen residing at Apo Island were 

 recorded daily from 22 July 2003 to 29 February 2004. 

 Records were kept by three fish buyers, one buyer at 

 each of the three major fish landing sites (the houses 

 of the fish buyers) on the island, in Baybay, Ubos, and 

 Cogon villages (Fig. 1). The fish buyers recorded the local 

 names and weights of each species or family offish that 

 contributed to the catch sold by each fishermen. Catches 

 were weighed on market scales accurate to 0.1 kg. The 

 value of the catch sold by fishermen was estimated by 

 multiplying the weight of each species by its average 

 market price per kilogram in 2003. in Philippine Pesos 

 (PHP). In addition, a resident research assistant (A. 

 Candido) and one of the fish buyers (M. Aldeon) col- 

 lected information from fishermen at each of the three 

 villages through interviews every few days or weekly. 

 The following information was gathered from fishermen: 



