Tawi-Tawi — The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) and its partners from 14 higher education institutions (HEIs) all over the country will converge here to review and evaluate the accomplishments of the National Sea Cucumber R&D Program.
Specifically, they will be meeting at the Mindanao State University (MSU-TawiTawi) from November 21 to 25 to review the component on “Species inventory and fishery assessment of sea cucumber in key marine biogeographic regions in the Philippines”.
Funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), this component aims at the sustainable development and conservation of sea cucumber resources.
Specifically, the researchers sought to inventory and assess sea cucumber species and fishery; enhance capabilities and strengthen partnerships of different HEIs; and provide science-based information to local government units (LGUs) on the management of sea cucumber fisheries.
The component has three key activities, namely: 1) training and capability building, 2) inventory and resource assessment, and 3) ecological studies on selected species of sea cucumbers.
The first activity covers training-workshops, lecture series, follow-up training, and integration workshops. The training focuses on sea cucumber fishery assessment, species identification, and resource management.
The inventory and resource assessment covers both fisheries-dependent and independent surveys as well as shares feedback and gives recommendations to the LGUs.
Finally, the ecological studies covers reproduction.
For this component of the national program, PCAARRD monitored and coordinated the overall implementation. Also, it facilitated the conduct of trainings and of review/planning and integration workshops. Finally, it reviewed and evaluated terminal reports for consolidation and submission to CHED.
As the lead research institution, the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute mentored the state colleges and universities (SCUs) and trained the SCU counterparts on assessing the fishery and identifying the species of sea cucumbers.
Also, they assisted and trained the LGUs on resource and fishery assessment, and advised them in developing a management plan and release strategies. Finally, they assisted in the integration of the final report.
The HEIs, on the other hand, assessed the sea cucumber fishery and identified the species in key geographic areas while studying their ecology. The researchers then linked up with the LGUs and recommended measures for a sustained fishery of sea cucumbers.
The following 14 HEIs will be presenting their research output at the review:
- Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University
- Mariano Marcos State University
- Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College
- Cagayan State University
- Aurora State College of Technology
- Western Palawan University
- University of the Philippines Tacloban
- Negros Integrated Polytechnic State College
- Holy Name University
- Cebu Technological University
- Negros Oriental State University
- Davao del Norte State College
- MSU-Naawan
- MSU-Tawi-Tawi
Within the framework of the National Sea Cucumber R&D Program, the sea cucumber industry will provide equitable economic benefits to various stakeholders (fishers, growers, processors, traders, etc.) and maintain the productivity and biodiversity of invertebrate fishery resources in the country.
This component project review is one step towards accomplishing this far-reaching goal.