56
July 2008
protected islands, namely, Lankayan,
Bilean and Tegaipil. These islands are
located off Sandakan, Sabah in Sulu
Sea. It is a secondary nesting area for
sea turtles and its surrounding waters
are used as foraging and feeding
areas by turtles.
Lankayan Island is fully developed for
dive tourism. Occasionally, tourists
get the opportunity to witness the
emergence of turtle hatchlings from
the nursery which maintains eggs
laid on the island. Development of
facilities on Bilean Island started in
2007 while Tegaipil has no facilities
at all.
CI and Reef Guardian aim to
strengthen the management of SIMCA
by establishing sea turtle monitoring
and increasing law enforcement
activities. While the project’s duration
was from June 2006 to January 2008,
it formed part of a regular long-
term monitoring program being
established to improve the overall
management and environmental
law enforcement in SIMCA. The
partnership with CI contributed
in increasing the capacity of
Reef Guardian staff for enhanced
management of SIMCA. To improve
law enforcement, CI supported the
recruitment of three additional
staff (i.e., 1 marine technician and 2
enforcement crew) bringing to 10
the total number of Reef Guardian
staff. Their capacities were enhanced
through training on basic navigation,
use of global positioning system, and
radar operation. They were trained
by the Sabah Wildlife Department as
honorary wildlife wardens, providing
them knowledge and skills in the
process of stopping fishing boat/
vessels, search and inspection,
determination of activities that violate
the Wildlife Conservation Enactment
of 1997 and familiarization with
endangered and CITES-listed species,
and report writing.
The various capacity-building
activities yielded the following results:
1. Sea patrol around SIMCA
progressively increased from 56
patrols in 2005 to 100 in 2006 and
134 in 2007 (239% increase from
2005 baseline);
2. Fishing boats stopped and
inspected increased from 77
in 2006 to 118 in 2007 (153%
increase);
3. Total boats detained increased
from 5 in 2006 to 16 in 2007 (31%
increase);
4. In December 2006, a fishing
trawler was stopped and one live
female turtle was found caught
in the net. The boat was detained
and its crew strictly warned.
5. In 2007, one fishing boat
using sodium cyanide, was
apprehended near Lankayan
Island in February; one at
Tegaipil Island in October. Three
dynamite fishing boats were
arrested around Lankayan Island
in October-November during
joint operations with Marine
Police Sabah. Fishing boats were
confiscated and boat owners
fined.
Despite these gains, there remains
a need to expand law enforcement
efforts in SIMCA, through increased
manpower, improvement of facilities
(e.g., more sensitive radar system
and patrol boats) and expansion of
cooperation with law enforcement
agencies. There is also a need
to source funds to support law
enforcement expansion.
Project support for floating ranger
stations and patrolling in the Berau
Coastal and Marine Conservation
Area (Indonesia) has resulted in
the apprehension of and legal
proceedings against a foreign vessel
with 12 crew and carrying 387 dead
sea turtles. Legal support was
provided to a case against a foreign
fishing vessel caught in the Philippine
Turtle Islands.
Although not specifically focused
on environmental law enforcement,
the Malaysia-Philippine Border Patrol
Coordinating Group, the Malaysia-
Indonesia (MALINDO) Operation and
the Philippines-Indonesia Permanent
Joint Working Group on Maritime and
Ocean Concerns, also continue to
Jüergen Freund
57
Tropical Coasts
foster cooperation in law enforcement
in the tri-national sea turtle corridor
(Tri-National Committee on the SSME,
2007 and Palma and Tsamenyi, 2008).
Valuable Experiences,
Practical Knowledge
Practical knowledge and valuable
learning have been gained in the
enforcement of coastal and marine
environmental laws in the seascape of
the Sulu-Sulawesi.
These include:
1. Illegal fishers adapt their methods
to that of the enforcers’, hence,
enforcers need to stay vigilant
and innovative in the conduct of
operations.
2. The law enforcement and
prosecution process involves
multi-party cooperation as shown
in the cooperation of Sandakan
Marine Police and Sabah Wildlife
Department which made possible
the completion of the process of
arrest, detention and prosecution.
Appreciation of environmental
laws by the judiciary also helps.
3. Enforcers must take into account
activities at night, at their borders
and outside MPAs, too. For
example, fishers using sodium
cyanide are sometimes deployed
to shallow reef areas by a mother
boat anchored outside SIMCA and
not easily detected.
4. Broader management of the
coastal area is equally important
in enforcing and reducing illegal
fishing practices, such as through
proper licensing and ICM.
While stakeholders for marine
biodiversity have had significant
gains, gaps remain: political will
to enforce laws needs to be built;
remote locations require guarding;
References
Chung, F. C. 2008. Final Report:
Strengthening Sea Turtle Monitoring
and Enforcement in the Sugud Islands
Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA). Reef
Guardian Sdn Bhd. Sabah Malaysia.
Conservation International Sulu-
Sulawesi Seascape Project, Quezon City,
Philippines. 12 p.
Enderez, E. M. 2004. Fisheries Resource
Assessment of Balayan Bay. World Wide
Fund for Nature-Philippines.
Faburada, A. n.d. “Coastal Law Enforcement
Report, Municipality of Balabac,
Palawan. Conservation International
Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Project,
Quezon City, Philippines.
Gutierrez, J.S. n.d. “Verde Passage Marine
Biodiversity Conservation Corridor
Enforcement Strategy. “ Conservation
International-Philippines, Quezon City,
Philippines.
Palma, M.A. and M. Tsamenyi. 2008.
Case Study on the Impacts of Illegal,
Unreported and Unregulated Fishing
in the Sulawesi Sea. APEC Fisheries
Working Group.
Quibilan, M. 2008. Personal
Communication.
Rosales, R.M.P. 2008. “Costs in Enforcing
Fishing Rules and Regulations
in Verde Passage.” Conservation
International-Philippines, Quezon
City, Philippines.
Rosales, R.M.P. 2006. “Estimating
Appropriate Fines for Ship Grounding
Violations in Tubbataha Reef
National Marine Park.” Conservation
International-Philippines, Quezon
City, Philippines.
Tri-National Committee on the Sulu-
Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion. 2007.
2nd Meeting of the Tri-National
Committee on the Sulu-Sulawesi
Marine Ecoregion. Minutes of the
Meeting. Magellan Sutera, Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 19-21 April
2007.
Tubbataha Management Office. “Final
report – TRNP Law Enforcement,
Cagayan Ridge Seabird Banding and
PMMRS Capacity Building for Marine
Endangered Species Conservation.”
Tubbataha Management Office, Sulu-
Sulawesi Seascape Project.
and capacities need strengthening.
Enhancement of the capability,
accessibility and responsiveness of
the judicial system and an improved
coordinated intelligence for
enforcement of environmental laws
are likewise needed.
Participants take part in various activities during the Advance Law Enforcement Training held
in Calapan City
.