Science Interventions for Sustainable Marine Products Production: The Case of Sardines and Seaweeds

Abstract

This paper presents two cases of scientific interventions to address pressing sustainable production of marine products in the Philippines such as the sardine fishery and seaweed production. The Philippine sardine fishery accounts for about 25% of commercial and 11% of municipal fisheries. Due to dwindling catch, the biology, ecology, fish catch and environmental factors were investigated in Northern Zamboanga Peninsula where upwelling during the northeast monsoon supports a significant sardine population. The study resulted in a resource management program that remains adaptive and spatially explicit to ensure sustainability of the sardine fishery. On the other hand, the Philippine seaweed production contributes about 50% of the annual fishery production volume, of which 70% comes mainly from carrageenophytes or carrageenan-bearing seaweeds. Production of these seaweeds made the Philippines the world’s top supplier of the raw dried seaweed for carrageenan production until 2007 after which seaweed production for the carrageenan industry placed second only to a neighboring country. Government agencies and academic institutions, thus, initiated studies to improve the productivity of this marine plant. For sustainability, tissue culture techniques were developed, and gene and seedlings banks were established in strategic parts of the country to ensure continued supply of quality seaweed seedlings to the farmers. Philippine standard specifications for raw material and carrageenan were formulated to comply with international standards. Continued science interventions to marine fishery industries are called for and should be intensified to promote further the country’s progress.