Fisheries Research 161 (2015) 174–181
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Fisheries Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres
Development and application of the fisheries vulnerability assessment
tool (Fish Vool) to tuna and sardine sectors in the Philippines
Melchor R. Jacinto a , Al Jayson G. Songcuan a,b , Graceous Von Yip a ,
Mudjekeewis D. Santos a,∗
a
b
National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, 101 Mother Ignacia St., Quezon City, Philippines
Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, 1101 Quezon City, Philippines
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 20 January 2014
Received in revised form 4 July 2014
Accepted 5 July 2014
Keywords:
Climate change
Vulnerability assessment tool
Fisheries
Food security
a b s t r a c t
Climate change studies in the Philippines are emerging fast, focusing on different fields of sciences. However, studies that address the fisheries sector remain insufficient. Here, we described a sector-based
fisheries vulnerability assessment tool (Fish Vool) to evaluate the vulnerability of primary fishery commodities. Tool demonstration and validation were conducted in General Santos and Zamboanga City,
which are the primary producers of tuna and sardine, respectively. Fish Vool revealed an overall medium
vulnerability (low exposure, medium sensitivity, and low adaptive capacity) for both sectors. The vulnerability assessment of the tuna and sardine sectors emphasizes the potential of Fish Vool to assess climate
change vulnerability for primary commodities and other fishery sectors.
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Climate change, also referred to as global warming, is the
increase in global atmospheric temperature and high variability in
frequency and intensity of extreme weather disturbances, which
poses threat to society, biodiversity, economy, and food security (Adger et al., 2005; IPCC, 2001). Philippine development and
progress are critically related to the adaptive capacity toward the
emerging effects of climate change. The fisheries sector contributes
to the country’s economy by generating approximately 2.2% (170.3
billion pesos) of gross domestic product and 452 million dollars of
export earnings (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR),
2010), as well as providing sources of livelihood to rural areas and
coastal communities. However, this sector may be highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (Burke et al., 2012; Hughes
et al., 2012). Harmeling (2011) ranked the Philippines as the seventh most vulnerable country to climate change on the basis of
long-term trends of exposure and extreme weather events from
1990 to 2009. Impacts contributing to the vulnerability of fisheries
include direct and indirect effects of physical and chemical factors,
such as temperature, winds, vertical mixing, salinity, oxygen, and
pH (Brander, 2010).
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +632 3725063.
E-mail address: mudjiesantos@yahoo.com (M.D. Santos).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2014.07.007
0165-7836/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Accordingly, a National Framework Strategy on Climate Change
was formed to aid in adaptive capacity building of communities and
optimization of mitigation opportunities toward sustainable development. The Philippine climate change policy provides guidelines
for the development of adaptation strategies, which can be accomplished by conducting vulnerability assessments (VAs), among
others (e.g., Allison et al., 2009; Cochrane et al., 2009; Mamauag
et al., 2013; Santos et al., 2011). VAs, especially for fisheries and
aquaculture, provide a better way to understand the interactions
among the natural system, pressures, and threats, which serves as
a basis for the development of climate change adaptation (CCA)
options (Mamauag et al., 2013).
Several climate change and VA studies (Jose and Cruz, 1999;
Badjeck et al., 2010; Sajise et al., 2012; Mamauag et al., 2013) have
been conducted in the Philippines, which also included the development of a VA tool. However, most of these vulnerability tools
were designed to evaluate the vulnerability of specific subjects
only. Mamauag et al. (2013) designed a framework for the VA of
coastal fisheries ecosystems (Tool for Understanding Resilience of
Fisheries, VA-TURF). VA-TURF was used to assess the vulnerability
of the coastal fisheries ecosystems in the tropics to climate change.
This tool was demonstrated in all coastal barangays of two island
municipalities located along the Verde Island Passage, which has
the world’s highest marine shore fish biodiversity. However, VATURF is limited to fisheries associated with nearshore habitats, uses
the coastal or fishing village (barangay) as the spatial unit, and lacks
commercial and sectoral levels of assessment.