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Sites for Inclusion in an Initial Regional System of Fisheries Refugia
BACKGROUND
The Eighth Meeting of the Regional Working Group on Fisheries considered 3 main information sources to assist in the identification of specific locations in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea for inclusion in an initial regional system of fisheries refugia. These sources were as follows:
Information Source 1
Document UNEP/GEF/SCS/RWG-F.8/5 “Information Collated by the Fisheries and Habitat Components of the South China Sea Project on Sites Important to the Life-Cycles of Significant Fish Species”. This document contained a review of all information collated by the fisheries and habitat components of the South China Sea Project on fish-habitat linkages. The sources of information used for this review include:
- National Reports on Fisheries,
- National Reports on Coral Reefs, Seagrass, Mangroves, and Wetlands,
- Habitat Site Characterisations,
- Habitat Demonstration Site Project Documents,
- The South China Sea Online Meta-Database, and
- Information Contributed Directly by Fisheries and Habitat Focal Points.
The meeting used this review to develop country-based tables of critical spawning and nursery areas for important species in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea. These tables are attached to the Report of the Meeting in Annex 4 “Spawning and Nursery Areas for Important Fish Species in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea”.
Information Source 2
Dr. Somboon Siriraksophon of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) delivered a presentation during the meeting on the distribution and abundance of larval fish in the South China Sea during the post northeast monsoon periods from 1996-1999. Species based maps of the distribution and abundance of larvae of important species were prepared and attached to the meeting report as Annex 5 “Distribution and Abundance of Fish Larvae in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea”.
Information Source 3
Fisheries Focal Points and observers from SEAFDEC were invited to deliver presentations to the meeting on the outcomes of stakeholder consultations on the identification of fisheries refugia in their respective countries. Focal Points were further invited to comment on any challenges or lessons learned to date in the identification and establishment of fisheries refugia sites.
The meeting reviewed each of these information sources and compared areas of high fish larvae abundance with the country tables of known spawning and nursery areas. It was identified that most areas with high abundances of fish larvae were located within the spawning and nursery areas identified and summarised in Annex 5. On this basis the group agreed that the country tables of known spawning and nursery areas provided a suitable starting point for the development of a list of fisheries refugia sites. Focal points then developed a list of fisheries refugia sites for initial inclusion in a regional system of fisheries refugia. These sites were plotted on country maps and included in this Annex as Figures 1-5.
Figure 1 Sites selected in Vietnam for inclusion in an initial system of fisheries refugia.
Figure 2 Sites selected in Thailand for inclusion in an initial system of fisheries refugia.
Figure 3 Sites selected in the Philippines for inclusion in an initial system of fisheries refugia.
Figure 4 Sites selected in Indonesia for inclusion in an initial system of fisheries refugia.
Figure 5 Sites selected in Cambodia for inclusion in an initial system of fisheries refugia.
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Fisheries Refugia Sites