Status of Coral Reefs in Lagonoy Gulf, Eastern Bicol, Philippines with Emphasis on Marine Protected Areas

Status of coral reef health of 8 Marine Protected Areas (MPA), 6 adjacent MPA reefs and 5 regular reefs of Lagonoy Gulf were assessed from December 2017 to August 2018 and compared with previous gulf-wide assessment results in 1994 and 2004. Underwater photo transect (UPT) method was utilized to collect benthic lifeform information and coral point count with excel extensions (CPCe) was used to analyzed benthic data. Results showed that present live coral cover in MPAs are low with 26% as compared to adjacent MPA reef areas (30%) and regular reef stations (33%). A downtrend was noted from 1993 – 2004 with 10% decline of MPA reefs while from 2004 to 2018 decrease was almost 20% and from 1993 to 2018 an average fall of 25% was detected. Overall, Lagonoy Gulf reef health is declining and can be attributed to both natural and fisheries activities, as evidenced by almost 20 typhoons affecting the Region per year with a super typhoon at least every 5-10 years and the heavy dependence of fishing communities on reef fishes respectively. However, non-MPA reefs decline was observed to very minimal as compared for both MPA and adjacent MPA reefs ranging from 1% to 6%. With this, MPA management schemes should be revisited and amended to improve and strengthen MPA governance, direction and strategies.