The paper examines the sustainability of fisheries and fishers’ incomes in the
Visayan Sea and identifies potentially viable options that could help achieve the dual
goals of protecting the fish and helping fishers earn a living. The focus is northern
Iloilo fisheries, which cover almost half of the Visayan Sea. Ten management options
identified from various sources were presented to the different stakeholders: fishers,
fishery scientists, and fishery managers. These consist of status quo, input controls
(ban of commercial fishing, ban of commercial fishing with safety nets, marine
protected area, closed season, reduction in the number of commercial and municipal
fishers, localization, and rotational fishing regime), output control (quota), and the
creation of a special management unit. These management options were evaluated
at two stages where Stage 1 ruled out options with no or low impact on increasing
fish stocks. Options that passed Stage 1 advanced to Stage 2 where each was
evaluated using a set of criteria (impact on fishers, impact on resources, feasibility,
cost to the government, and impact to the community). Feedback from the
stakeholders was obtained through focus group discussions and in-depth personal
interviews. The potentially viable options (fishing bans with and without safety nets,
marine protected area, reduction in the number of municipal and commercial fishers,
localization, and creation of a special management unit) were discussed. The use of
a combination of options, rather than a single one, and the creation of a single
management body, to be pilot tested in northern Iloilo, to implement any program of
management in all portions of the Visayan Sea fishing ground and for all its fishers
are recommended.