Mike King's Philippine Report
- Thread starter Mike King
- Start date
Yes I saw the CAMP for Batasan it is the one I talked about in my post
I may have some of it on a video tape copy I will check when I have time this weekend. I didnt have time to even give it a even a poor read all I was able to do is give it a very quick glance over and no I dont recall seeing any fish assessments.
The reef areas are much like those throughout the near shore areas in the Philippines They showed heavy signs of blast fishing and pollution (mainly nutrients). Batasan had a small MPA and because of its small size I'd say it was only functional as a MPA for the corals and not as a refuge for maintaining a fisheries resource.
Mainly barrier nets and some chase nets (like a barrier net but short in length to put between rocks and corals to drive fish into). I did see one or two home made hand nets in the parked Bancas.
They all also had their mini spear guns for collecting the Mandarins (they shoot them in the pectoral fins when they are hovering above the coral heads in the early morning feeding on plankton) their may have been a butterfly style fish net also (I know I wouldn't have them collecting them anyways).
For the most part they were happy they had some comments about prices given for fish but Marvini is where the majority of the fish seem to go and she pays them well. Other Issues were netting materials, and the need for better dive equipment.
The Clarin group was just graduating so they were fresh to the actual workings and benefits that MAC might provide.
The Camotes collectors and village leaders seemed very anxious to get started with the MAC program many there freely admitted using cyanide and were very ready to start any net training. They are also very aware of what has happened to their coastal and coral reef habitats and were quite willing to protect what was left. The Camotes were once a prime diving area that's all gone now most of their coral reefs have been turned into rubble by destructive fishing practices. The Camotes are a prime area for reef restoration and will be one of CORL's first PI project areas.
Did you ever get the sense that you might have been given a song and dance show?
No I don't think the collectors were putting on a show, they were just trying to survive the best they could as in the daily struggle to feed their families there. I knew that I would be led around like a bull in the rice fields but I expected it ahead of time and based my trip upon that as a balance. This was also the reason I asked for an extended stay (it was originally to be a 5-7 day stay).
If I had more time to visit those two areas and to do the needed diving (water conditions were marginal during the trip) I could have done a resource evaluation using transit lines and video but unfortunately this was not the case. I do have some underwater video of two collection areas that shows the state of the reefs at those sites but without any distance or timed period they are quite worthless for assessment uses.
To do a usable assessment one must do several transits. Hold it, I really don't want to bore you all with that, sorry. I have been setting up Community Based Coastal Resource Monitoring projects for the last 4 weeks here and I'm just a bit fixated on it at the moment. If anyone wishes to learn what its all about E-mail me, as soon as I have the 9 communities here trained and doing their own monitoring I can start writing up the projects evaluation and I'll gladly share with you. (Note the methods being use are for community monitoring not scientific but I will be comparing their assessments to true scientific assessments to determine the ability of the villagers and the low-tech methodology to adequately monitor the management areas). Community Management is a rush and I love working on it as much as restoring the reefs (yes I'm also teaching them to restore the damaged reefs as it's an essential part of community based coral reef management. I just wish there was some mangrove swamps on this blasted rock so I could introduce them mangrove restoration too!).
Buy the way it was destructive fishing that destroyed the reefs here (mainly blast and chemical fishing)
Almost missed this
Has MAC given you any flak for reporting on the warts?
No they haven't, they even posted my original rough draft. I hope they pull the post here and replace it with that one.
Dave finally called me last week to talk about the net training proposal, I again stated that CORL must stay independent and nothing was mentioned about the PI report.
It doesn't matter to me who gets the credit for the training what matters is that its done right and as a community based program that's impartial to all the collectors not just those needed to provide the MAC certified fish. Yes this means training in the degraded unsustainable areas also, those areas must be included as they are the ones who need the help the greatest.
Remember the #1 concern of the Filipino is "How/what am I going to feed my family today?" (not a true quote I don't have the reference on hand here but meaning and concern are the same as original quote).
In those degraded areas the collector's children may not even get to eat every day.
CORL will continue to seek ways to provide these areas sustainable methods of income be it coral farming or Talapia and Pacu farming inland I cannot just turn my back upon them.
Well I got just a bit off the subject questions but it all leads to being transparent.
From the Rock
FAAFETAI LAVA
(thank you)
Mike King
Director of CORL-INT + AS
By The way how do I kill the ’s?
By The way how do I kill the ’s?
Ali'i,
I inquired about this odd text phenomenon. I've seen this a few times before. It seems to happen when text is pasted into the message from another source. Are you composing your messages in a word processor, then cut-n-pasting into reefs.org?
It looks like it's happening mostly with contractions (don't, I'm, isn't, etc.) and possessives (MAC's, CORL's, collector's, etc.).
I don't yet know of a fix. You could try composing in a different processor program. You could also consciously skip the punctuation. People wont have too difficult a time reading when they cant see all of your texts punctuations.
Maybe someone else has a suggestion. I'm going to edit your text now.
Soifua fa'a Samoa!
John Brandt
MASNA
MAC
CMAS-Chicago
Ali'i,
I inquired about this odd text phenomenon. I've seen this a few times before. It seems to happen when text is pasted into the message from another source. Are you composing your messages in a word processor, then cut-n-pasting into reefs.org?
It looks like it's happening mostly with contractions (don't, I'm, isn't, etc.) and possessives (MAC's, CORL's, collector's, etc.).
I don't yet know of a fix. You could try composing in a different processor program. You could also consciously skip the punctuation. People wont have too difficult a time reading when they cant see all of your texts punctuations.
Maybe someone else has a suggestion. I'm going to edit your text now.
Soifua fa'a Samoa!
John Brandt
MASNA
MAC
CMAS-Chicago
John_Brandt":rfropyjw said:
Yes, I do.
What you are seeing is the difference between three characters. The normal single quote is vertical. Some people do not like it, and instead want to use a back tick or forward tick. The problem is, many character sets (fonts) do not have either tick defined in the font...
What the browser writers have done is to define codes for certain characters, i.e. the trademark symbol, or a hard space, or these forward/backward ticks.
They are defined in HTML in this way "’". When working in newer versions of Word, the clipboard copies all the formatting, not just the text...
So when you paste, it converts the native ticks to HTML symbols instead of the single quotes.
Normally, you can fix this by choosing the edit, paste special, then choose 'unformatted text' as your option and Word will convert the ticks to single quotes. I recommend to my users that any time they have this issue, they re-paste the text w/o formatting, then re-do the formatting. Most of the time, this takes far less time...
Even better- write the stuff in Notepad instead of Word.
Notepad was probably the best-written program Microsoft ever released.
(And if there is a bug in it, I've never encountered it...)
Regards.
Mike Kirda
clarionreef
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- San Francisco
Look!
Everyones working together on the ’ problem!
May it only be the beginning of something wonderful!
Steve
PS Kum bay yah!
Everyones working together on the ’ problem!
May it only be the beginning of something wonderful!
Steve
PS Kum bay yah!
Mike R King":2unmt7ad said:
Mike,
Did Ferdinand give you a copy of the manual he helped write?
If not, e-mail me your snail mail address and I'll drop the single extra copy I have in the mail to you.
It was written for exactly this audience...
Thanks again for the response.
Regards.
Mike Kirda
naesco":2okebiw7 said:
Naesco,
Right now, the USL is on the back burner.
Like it or not, back burner.
The issue right now is getting more and more collectors using nets, and giving them incentive to not go back to cyanide use. IOW, pay them more.
Concurrently, getting the CDT in place with proper and random testing, and penalties for FAILING the test.
The second battle will be over improving shipping and handling.
Once the exporters are getting clean fish that are treated well, the USL will come into play.
All things in order for a reason.
Once these issues are handled, the CDT becomes almost a non-issue.
Regards.
Mike Kirda
clarionreef
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- San Francisco
Here ya go Vitz,
Some CORL history for ya. Its not that old!
Steve
Some CORL history for ya. Its not that old!
Steve
Hey Steve,
Thanks for bringing this back up. I'd read Mike's report at the MAC's site and had been wondering about an up-date. It's the end of Feb 2004 and wanted to know what Mike had to tell us about the coral farm trip of July 2003.
On another note: Are there alturnatives to the expensive Tiawan netting matterials? I know that I'm not as experienced in this matter as others are, but I do know of materials used in screen printing that would make excellent nets for a whole lot less than 10K.
Thanks for bringing this back up. I'd read Mike's report at the MAC's site and had been wondering about an up-date. It's the end of Feb 2004 and wanted to know what Mike had to tell us about the coral farm trip of July 2003.
On another note: Are there alturnatives to the expensive Tiawan netting matterials? I know that I'm not as experienced in this matter as others are, but I do know of materials used in screen printing that would make excellent nets for a whole lot less than 10K.
clarionreef
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- San Francisco
Sally,
If the alternative you may have would work well, why not? I'd love to see it!
The real deal from Taiwan is what has supplied the real net catching trade from Hawaii and Australia from the very beginning.
The materials have always hidden in plain sight and are actually not that expensive at all considering they last a few years. Every collector in Hawaii knows how to get it.
The mainland Chinese nets last only a few months and thats with a lot of down time repairing them in the boat.
The 10-13 K price tag for a minimum run is for 1,000 divers so it would mean only 10-13 dollars per diver for a long time. Thats the cheapest he would ever be able to collect but...its the initial lot price that keeps it from happening.
This is what a comprehensive training budget would finally enable. Instead of being 'line-itemed' out...it would be recognized as vital and secured as per the approved budget.
If this net training is so small a step and so small a piece of the whole picture...why not then do it...dispense with it and move onto the 'bigger picture'? [You know...like changing oil in your car. But even minimizing that for to long would perhaps one day kill your car actually.]
No, the netting and training are vital to entry into any new village. Proving your worth and being welcome comes from this. Assisting livlihood and income quickly among fisherman is the critical step to all else in the agenda...unless, UNLESS the village has already been organized on a serious level and outside reformers already have welcome entry.
To train without the netting supply up front however must never be done again. It propells divers back to cyanide fishing as if on purpose.
IMPROPER TRAINING IS IN SOME WAYS WORSE THEN NO TRAINING.
Imagine improper dive training, drivers training or pilots lessons.
Glossing over this 'little stuff' is simply an indicator that one does not quite understand what the diver wants first.
Securing social and economic justice for him BEFORE hes converted away from cyanide fishing is an odd proposition. Promising a complete overhaul of an exploitive system and restructuring and fixing prices without killing the trade is possible... in time. Now!?? In Cuba...maybe.
Getting a better deal for the fisherman is a fishermans need the world over...but to withhold solutions to destructive fishing conditioned on total up-front reform ideal?? Whats that? An incentive program? What will fisherman eat in the meantime? If they don't stop killing their coral...what will they catch? What will they eat? Stopping cyanide fishing is for them first...not for us foreigners.
Steve
PS. There are several approaches to the city of Rome however. If they can be shown to accomplish the same or better then...why not? There are many things to discuss at the upcoming MO. Thats for sure.
If the alternative you may have would work well, why not? I'd love to see it!
The real deal from Taiwan is what has supplied the real net catching trade from Hawaii and Australia from the very beginning.
The materials have always hidden in plain sight and are actually not that expensive at all considering they last a few years. Every collector in Hawaii knows how to get it.
The mainland Chinese nets last only a few months and thats with a lot of down time repairing them in the boat.
The 10-13 K price tag for a minimum run is for 1,000 divers so it would mean only 10-13 dollars per diver for a long time. Thats the cheapest he would ever be able to collect but...its the initial lot price that keeps it from happening.
This is what a comprehensive training budget would finally enable. Instead of being 'line-itemed' out...it would be recognized as vital and secured as per the approved budget.
If this net training is so small a step and so small a piece of the whole picture...why not then do it...dispense with it and move onto the 'bigger picture'? [You know...like changing oil in your car. But even minimizing that for to long would perhaps one day kill your car actually.]
No, the netting and training are vital to entry into any new village. Proving your worth and being welcome comes from this. Assisting livlihood and income quickly among fisherman is the critical step to all else in the agenda...unless, UNLESS the village has already been organized on a serious level and outside reformers already have welcome entry.
To train without the netting supply up front however must never be done again. It propells divers back to cyanide fishing as if on purpose.
IMPROPER TRAINING IS IN SOME WAYS WORSE THEN NO TRAINING.
Imagine improper dive training, drivers training or pilots lessons.
Glossing over this 'little stuff' is simply an indicator that one does not quite understand what the diver wants first.
Securing social and economic justice for him BEFORE hes converted away from cyanide fishing is an odd proposition. Promising a complete overhaul of an exploitive system and restructuring and fixing prices without killing the trade is possible... in time. Now!?? In Cuba...maybe.
Getting a better deal for the fisherman is a fishermans need the world over...but to withhold solutions to destructive fishing conditioned on total up-front reform ideal?? Whats that? An incentive program? What will fisherman eat in the meantime? If they don't stop killing their coral...what will they catch? What will they eat? Stopping cyanide fishing is for them first...not for us foreigners.
Steve
PS. There are several approaches to the city of Rome however. If they can be shown to accomplish the same or better then...why not? There are many things to discuss at the upcoming MO. Thats for sure.
Sally, are you talking about the silk in silk screening? If so, no it won't work as its to fine of a mesh. The fine mesh will billow in the water and act as a sail (you can try this in your own tank with a white brine shrimp net as opposed to a green hand net). The netting in question can be had from buying a several mile piece (it takes A LOT of time and labour to restructure the million dollar machine to make this netting) from Tiawan or spend more money and get it from a distrubuter from Hawaii or Australia. Millions have been spent on this, 15K isn't a bad deal at all.
clarionreef
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- San Francisco
OOPS,
Looks like more flimsey netting again huh?
I'm not familiar w/ the silk screen stuff.
A dozen kinds of nets have been supplied over the years. [ green, white, flimsy, gill netting, brown, shade cloth etc.]
But it should never be advanced without a commercial collector checking it out first.
Real netting is what it is...the real stuff that really works well enough to keep divers from straying back.
The best way in the world to test a netting is to hand it to an Aussie collector and watch the initial expression. I say Aussies cuz they cut to the chase and don't hym and haw and give out diplomatic qualifiers. The truth of it is all we want...nothing more. They'll give you the verdict before a single word is uttered...as would I.
Steve
Looks like more flimsey netting again huh?
I'm not familiar w/ the silk screen stuff.
A dozen kinds of nets have been supplied over the years. [ green, white, flimsy, gill netting, brown, shade cloth etc.]
But it should never be advanced without a commercial collector checking it out first.
Real netting is what it is...the real stuff that really works well enough to keep divers from straying back.
The best way in the world to test a netting is to hand it to an Aussie collector and watch the initial expression. I say Aussies cuz they cut to the chase and don't hym and haw and give out diplomatic qualifiers. The truth of it is all we want...nothing more. They'll give you the verdict before a single word is uttered...as would I.
Steve
knowse":1ymlmlgp said:
Sally
there's an updated (though not fully edited :wink: ) copy of our '04 newsletter on the corl website, www.corl.org
mike's leaving for the MO '04 conference today/tomorrow, and has an isp connection that only allows him to connect to the net for an avg of a few minutes at a time, if he gets to connect at all.(thanx to cyclone Heta, which the islands of American Samoa are still recovering from).
i'd suggest emailing him if there's anything you're interested in getting an update on, that the newsletter doesn't cover.you can email him via the website.
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