Seagrass-Watch Magazine Issue 47 - March 2013 | Page 43

Manila

Davao
Gulf

0

200

400

kilometres

dramatically, and seagrass loss has been
cited as one of the causes. The seagrass
meadows are also important foraging
areas for turtles and the endangered
dugong. The Gulf is home to at least 14
dugong which are reported to mainly
appear in the morning, during neap tides,
and during dry season (January to May).
However, their dependence on the
sustained high abundance of their food
Halophila ovalis and Halodule uninervis
may be threatened by human activities.
As part of our assessment, we identified a
number of human activities threatening
seagrass around Davao Gulf, these were:
! siltation due to run-off from vast
agricultural areas of banana plantation
and rice fields;
! presence of fish pens, fish cages and fish
ponds;
! gold panning activities;
! presence of beach resorts;
! settlement areas;
! presence of wharf;
! floating power plant;
! presence of factories; and
! gleaning and the use of destructive
fishing gears.

Based on the assessment findings, we
recommended that the following actions
should be considered:
! banning the use of destructive fishing
gears which may cause uprooting of the
seagrass;
! adopting the landscape approach
method in protecting seagrass
meadows;
! formulating a gulf wide management
conservation plan with an inter-agency
collaborative partnership;
! intensifying the awareness and
information program;
! organising a monitoring team with the
assistance of Seagrass-Watch; and
! lobbying to local government units to
fund seagrass ecosystem management
and protection.

MARCH 2013

43