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FOREIGN-ASSISTED AND SPECIAL PROJECTS SERVICE
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An Investigation on the Potentials for Aquaculture Development in Illana Bay,Zamboanga del Sur Area

Illana Bay is a veritable fishing ground and a potential haven for mariculture. With the advent of export-oriented economy in the 1980s, some 5,111 hectares of fishponds have been developed out of its swamps and mangrove forests while some 3,194 hectares of its coastal waters have been farmed with seaweeds in the late 1990s. In addition, a number of cages, stocked with highly commercial fish species, were established to demonstrate the feasibility of fish cage culture as an alternative livelihood activity. The implication of these developments on the economy in dollar terms is immense.

Fishpond development, however, have eroded the productivity of the bay and diminished its role as one of the main supplier of fish in the region. The race to establish seaweed farms also created social and ecological problems—conflict in resource use, expansion of seaweed farms into coral reefs and sea grass beds, and the degradation of coastal waters. In view of this situation, USAID–EcoGov provided technical assistance towards the improvement of the management of aquaculture activities in the Illana Bay Zamboanga del Sur area. The Mindanao State University at Naawan Foundation was contracted to identify and assess existing and potential aquaculture activities along the bay, and to recommend potential aquaculture ventures and a set of actions necessary to counter the potential constraints to sustainable fisheries production in the region.

This report is the product of a series of focus group discussions, key informant interviews and site surveys conducted by specialists in aquaculture, socio-economics and policy analysis in the municipalities of Tabina, Dimataling, Dinas, San Pablo, Dumalinao, Labangan and Tukuran, and the City of Pagadian.

File: 
PDF icon Aquaculture Devt in Illana Bay_Final.pdf
Project Title: 
The Philippine Environmental Governance Project (EcoGov2)
Publication Type: 
Research/Studies