The socio-economic contributions of marine protected areas to the fisherfolk of Lingayen Gulf, Northwestern Philippines

The continuous degradation of the marine ecosystem leads to the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as a protective measure. Because of the wide array of benefits that can be gained upon its establishment, socio-economic contributions were taken into consideration using a descriptive survey method of research among the seven MPAs in Lingayen Gulf. Data revealed that members of the fisherfolk organization is dominated by married males, 30-50 years old, high school graduate, with 0-1 child, earns less than 5,000 pesos a month and fishing as the major source of livelihood. They participate "Moderately" in the management but scored "High" on linkaging/networking with other agencies. MPAs contributed "High" on social aspect despite a moderate contribution in recreation. A "Moderate" and "High" contributions were observed for economic and political aspect respectively. Among the socio-demographic profile, only the number of children is significantly correlated with the extent of participation in management but not with linking with other agencies. It is further revealed that participation is a good predictor of socio-economic contributions. No significant relationship was found between the socio-demographic profile and the socio-economic contributions. Linking/networking with other agencies is also found to be not significantly correlated with the any socio-demographic profile.

Keywords
Marine protected areas, Socio-economic, Fisherfolk, Lingayen Gulf, Conservation, Fish sanctuary, Coastal management