Countries around disputed seas to safeguard marine ecosystem

MANILA, Philippines – Countries around the South China Sea have embarked on a collaborative initiative to safeguard almost two million hectares of the region’s most critical marine and coastal ecosystems for fish production, nutritional security and livelihoods, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The new initiative – called the “Establishment and Operation of a Regional System of Fisheries Refugia in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand Sea” – aims to work with communities and governments to integrate habitat and biodiversity conservation considerations into fishery management and practices.

The initiative is financed by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by UNEP.

Isabelle Vanderbeck, UNEP task manager, said the initiative would benefit millions of people at the highest risk globally from the impacts of increasing rates of coastal and marine environmental degradation in an area essential to the economic and political stability of the burgeoning Southeast Asian region.

“Safeguarding habitats critical to the life cycles of important fisheries resources will not only improve and secure biodiversity but also build resiliency for those who rely on the ocean for their food and livelihood,” Vanderbeck said.

“By improving the way fisheries and environment ministries work together and by linking fishing effort with coastal management practices, this initiative will provide multiple benefits for the environment and people,” she added.

The South China Sea is the global center of shallow water tropical marine biodiversity. However, the loss of coastal habitats in this marine basin are high and increasing. Each decade, 30 percent of seagrass, 16 percent of mangrove and 16 percent of live coral cover is lost due to unsustainable use by the more than 270 million people who live along its coast.

The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) is executing the initiative regionally in partnership with the fisheries ministries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Dr. Kom Silapajarn, secretary general of SEAFDEC, said the initiative complemented SEAFDEC’s broader initiatives to improve the management of fishing capacity and energy efficiency in fishing operations, establish vessel licensing and registration systems, promote human-rights based approaches to fisheries management, particularly in fisheries labor markets, and demonstrate sustainability in seafood supply chains.

“Countries are committed to making the most of this opportunity to test, innovate and establish world leading practices for integrating fisheries and environmental management in order to benefit millions of small-scale fisherfolk and vulnerable fishing communities,” Silapajarn said.

“Reducing environmental stress through a network of managed coastal and marine areas will not only build the resilience of fish stocks that are important locally but also contribute significantly to global seafood production,” he added.

Given the limited integration of the work of fisheries and environment ministries in Southeast Asia and many other parts of the world, SEAFDEC said the establishment and operation of the regional system of fisheries refugia would provide an opportunity to learn how to integrate fisheries and coastal habitat management.