(From MPA News Vo. 11, No. 1 July-August 2009, with figures added)

In the Philippine province of Bohol, enforcement of the dozens of community-based MPAs there is a challenge. The small MPAs are scattered and distant from enforcement centers, and enforcement manpower is too limited to have staff on site at all times. With incidents of violence by illegal fishers and even corruption by some enforcement staff, few community members have been willing to participate actively in reporting MPA violations.

To address these challenges, Project Seahorse Foundation for Marine Conservation partnered with KAMADA (an alliance of 18 fishing communities in the region) and PAMANA ka sa Pilipinas (an alliance of Philippine MPA managers) to create a community-based reporting structure. The basis of the structure was an intermediary center to receive cellular phone calls from a network of anonymous tipsters. An observed incident of dynamite fishing, for example, would be phoned to the center, and the center would then communicate that tip to the regional fish market. There, delivery of dynamited fish by the offender could be seized by enforcement officials. One tip received through the system led officials to seize 1000 kilograms of dynamited fish.

Financial constraints and other factors have caused a temporary halt to the intermediary center’s operation. However, the concept was proven in practice for Bohol and holds promise for other areas around the world, says Erwin Brunio, a former staffmember of Project Seahorse Foundation who facilitated the formation of the community reporting structure. “If we can engage communities in reporting violations in an anonymous and safe way, we can increase the number of community members participating in enforcement-related activities for MPA management,” says Brunio. The more eyes there are watching an MPA, he says, the more effective it can be. “After all, an unenforced MPA is not an MPA