The squid fishery in Carigara Bay used the following gears: hanging squid pots, squid jigs, drive-in net, and spear by slingshot. Hanging squid pot operations were concentrated in the municipal waters of Capoocan and Carigara and targeted Sepioteuthis lessoniana. During the one-week survey in Carigara Bay, 705 hanging squid pots with markers were found offshore of barangays Culasian, Pinamopoan, Cabul-an and Talarian, all in Capoocan town. Other operators in Carigara, Babatngon, Barugo, and San Miguel towns hung their squid pots from fish shelters (arong) offshore of Carigara and Capoocan towns. Test fishing operations were conducted in Carigara Bay from January to December 1992 using the hanging squid pot, squid jigs, and a squid cast net. A 16 hp motorized boat F/B Ellah Meh was used during the fishing operations. A total of 162 days test fishing with 15 hanging squid pots yielded 125.7 kg of the longfin squid Sepioteuthis 1essoniana. Sixty nights of fishing with the ordinary squid jig yielded 97 kg of Indian squid Photololigo duvaucelii. Two test fishing operations with the squid cast net yielded no squid at all. The S. lessoniana (75-500 g body weight) caught by pots were larger than the P. duvaucelii (7-270 g) caught by jigs.

Shrimp hatcheries are high-density systems and are prone to diseases. A small-scale and a large-scale hatchery for the tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon in Iloilo, Philippines were monitored over two months for water quality and shrimp survival. Water quality (water temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and specific gravity) was not significantly different between the two hatcheries. However, the small hatchery seemed to favor survival of eggs to early postlarval stages, whereas the large hatchery favored the survival of late postlarvae. The normal microflora and bacterial loads of tiger shrimp eggs, larvae, postlarvae, and rearing water were determined to identify the dominant bacteria and potential pathogens. Shrimp eggs harbored the lowest heterotrophic bacterial counts. The counts increased from the nauplii to the mysis stages, decreased during the mysis stage, and then gradually increased in the older larvae. Bacterial loads in the rearing water reflected those in raw sea water and reservoir-aged sea water. Vibrio, Pseudomonas, and Aeromonas were not detected in eggs but were found in postlarvae. Ubiquitous in sea water, these bacteria increased with the build-up of organic matter. The bacterial load in the water adversely affected larval survival. Forty bacterial strains were isolated from tiger shrimp eggs, larvae, postlarvae, from the feeds, and from the rearing water. These were tested for biochemical characteristics and segregated into eight groups or genera. Six genera were found in the mysis and five genera in the postlarvae. The Vibrio species were dominant. Only Escherichia spp. were present in feeds, whereas five genera were present in the rearing water. Only Vibrio and Pseudomonas were present in both larvae and water. Moraxella, Aeromonas, and Klebsiella were found in larvae but not in rearing water. Micrococcus and coryneforms were found only in rearing water. Four Vibrio isolates were tested for virulence against shrimp postlarvae at inoculation densities of 10² and 10⁷ cfu/ml. The four Vibrio species caused mortality of postlarvae, and more at the higher inoculation density. The most virulent was Vibrio anguillarum—30% of postlarvae died after 24 h exposure to a bacterial density of 10² cfu/ml, and all larvae died after 48 h at 10⁷ cfu/ml. Shrimp hatcheries must have protocols for hygiene and sanitation and for disease prevention and control.

Fish assemblages on the reef slope, reef flat, and seagrass beds on Santiago Island were sampled over 18 months in 1992-1993 as part of a 6-year reef monitoring project started in 1986. Abundance and species diversity were analyzed by a variety of indices, and by multi-dimensional scaling and correlated ordered similarity matrix. The monitoring showed a distinct shift in the reef slope fish composition during the first half of 1988. Of the 100 most abundant species, 21 species showed significant reductions in abundance, and 20 species showed significant increases. Differences were not due to depth preference or feeding habits. Fishing pressure was apparently responsible for declines in Cheilinus trilobatus, Acanthurus nigricauda, and Naso literatus, as well as a general decline in the family Acanthuridae (surgeonfishes). However, analysis of site preferences of the decreasing species and the increasing species indicated a shift in community composition from those species preferring more coral cover to those preferring more sand, rock, and possibly Sargassum seaweed. Site preferences were determined from benthic life form transects done in 1992. Of 35 significantly changing species for which habitat data was obtained, 24 fit the hypothesis of habitat change. This supports the proposition from previous studies that the major cause of change in the reef slope fish community was the destructive fishing activity associated with Malthusian overfishing. Similar analyses of the fish assemblages on the reef flat and on the seagrass beds showed seasonal effects, particularly in the latter, but no strong shift comparable to that of the reef slope. These latter areas had been subjected to greater fishing pressure for a longer period. Reef fish populations such as those in Bolinao tend to be highly resilient provided the larval supply is not adversely affected. However, subtle changes in the cover of coral on a reef can lead to major changes in the composition of the fish community. Coral cover is being widely diminished on Philippine reefs, and substantial changes in the fish communities may be anticipated, even on reefs with initially low coral cover. These changes may affect the utility and immediate value of the fish to local fishers and the market systems they supply. It is of great urgency to stop destructive fishing practices such as blasting and use of cyanide, and to develop anchoring methods that are minimally destructive. There is a strong predictive relation between the numbers of fish (abundance) in an area and the numbers of species (biodiversity) they include. As fish populations decline due to destructive fishing, or highly concentrated non-destructive fishing, the local species richness may be expected to decline. This decline may have serious short-term social and economic consequences, as well as far-reaching long-term environmental effects. Efforts to reduce overfishing must be intensified—though reduction of birth rate, provision of alternative livelihoods, and curbing of destructive fishing — in order to prevent a very distressing future for the Philippine marine environment and the people it supports.