A typical fish catch in Apo Island: A 13-kg Caranx ignobilis "mamsa" and a 5-kg Lethrinus Miniatus "dugso" caught by "Manong Felix.

      Apo Island is a 0.74 km² volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Negros Island, central Philippines. A 1.06 km² fringing reef surrounds the island, and 10% lies within the marine sanctuary. Apo Island has 101 households which depend primarily on fisheries and related activities for their source of income (Calumpong et al. 1997). Only traditional, non-destructive fishing methods (e.g., hook and line) are allowed on the surrounding reef outside the sanctuary. This article reports on the status of the fishery catch of Apo Island from December 1999 to June 2000.

      The fish yield estimates of Apo Island were based on daily actual catch enumeration and actual shoreline enumeration in fish landing sites. Monthly fish yield during the past eight months (December 1994 to July 2000) caught by various fishing gears, ranged from 0.12 mt/km² to 3.13 mt/km² (total, 10.55 mt/km²). Lowest volume of catch was recorded in January during the northeast monsoon and highest in May during the southwest monsoon. Finfish catch from Apo Island was composed of 26 families in addition to a crustacean group and a cephalopod class. Five families comprised 94.58% of the eight-month fish yield: Carangidae 54.47%, Acanthuridae 28.46%, Caesionidae 8.77%, Lutjanidae 2.39%, Scombridae 1.49%. This pattern persisted throughout the sampling period and was consistently dominated by Carangids and Acanthurids. The data also suggests that the volume of Acanthurids caught during the southwest monsoon was higher than that of the northeast monsoon. The predominant Carangids caught were: Caranx ignobilis, locally known as "mamsa" (recorded weight range = 3 to 30 kg) and Caranx sexfasciatus (recorded weight range = 3 to 10 kg). Naso hexacanthus (bagis batiison), N. lopezi (pilasan) and N. minor (bagis) comprised about 60 to70% of the volume of Acanthurids caught.

      Reports on Apo Island fish yield show an increasing trend through the years. Average catch in 1980 to 1981 was 17.7 mt/km²/yr (Alcala and Luchavez 1981) and 31.8 mt/km²/yr in 1985 to 1986 (White and Savina 1987). Another study, however, in 1986 reported only 26.86 mt/km²/yr (Bellwood 1988). This can be attributed to differences in methods used in estimating fish yields (Bellwood 1988). On the other hand, fish catch composition throughout the years appeared consistent. Carangids, Acanthurids, Caesionids, Lutjanids, Scombrids and Scarids comprised about 90% o the catch (Alcala and Luchavez 1981, White and Savina 1987, Bellwood 1988, Russ and Alcala 1998). This suggests sustainability of fishery resources.