A. Species
Scientific name: Rhincodon typus
Common name(s): Whale shark
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Endangered
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Pacific - northwest
Country/Region: Phillipines
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Individual Site
Name/Details of location: Philipines, Barangay (village) Tan-awan, in the Municipality of Oslob, Cebu
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2016
End Year: 2018
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Non-Extractive
Practice of use:
Lethal or non-lethal:
Does this use involve take/extraction of:
Purpose(s) of end use: Recreation and Conservation Management
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Recreational and Population/Area Management
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, National / local government, National external and International external
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Data presented in this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Due to this enterprise, whale sharks are strictly and efficiently protected in this area from illegal poaching through boat patrols by volunteers and general ecosystem is improving. Destructive fishing has decreased and fishers perceive that fish abundance, pelagic species and catch have increased.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Oslob Whale Sharks achieves the following in each of the nine factors required for sustainable integrated coastal management [7]; (1) perceived improvements in biophysical conditions by protecting whale sharks from poaching and finning and financing the management of five marine reserves, perceived decreases in destructive fishing, perceived increases in fish abundance, pelagic fish species and catch, (2) engagement of fishers, local government and politicians in decision making, (3) business income for the barangay and municipality that is redistributed as livelihoods programs for the community and alternate livelihoods for fishers (4) strong local legal and policy frameworks that dovetail with national frameworks to support biodiversity conservation, (5) increased capacity for community based law enforcement by the Bantay Dagat, residents and National Police, (6) strong relationships with government, politicians and institutions based on public-private partnership that survives leadership change to support biodiversity conservation, (7) the local design, finance and implementation of all sustainable integrated coastal management tasks, (8) dependence on local partners rather than donors for the finance, design and implementation of integrated coastal management, (9) education of government, politicians, the community and tourists to raise awareness of the need to protect whale sharks and coral reef resources and accomplish sustainable integrated coastal management tasks.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Oslob Whale Sharks achieves the following in each of the nine factors required for sustainable integrated coastal management [7]; (1) perceived improvements in biophysical conditions by protecting whale sharks from poaching and finning and financing the management of five marine reserves, perceived decreases in destructive fishing, perceived increases in fish abundance, pelagic fish species and catch, (2) engagement of fishers, local government and politicians in decision making, (3) business income for the barangay and municipality that is redistributed as livelihoods programs for the community and alternate livelihoods for fishers (4) strong local legal and policy frameworks that dovetail with national frameworks to support biodiversity conservation, (5) increased capacity for community based law enforcement by the Bantay Dagat, residents and National Police, (6) strong relationships with government, politicians and institutions based on public-private partnership that survives leadership change to support biodiversity conservation, (7) the local design, finance and implementation of all sustainable integrated coastal management tasks, (8) dependence on local partners rather than donors for the finance, design and implementation of integrated coastal management, (9) education of government, politicians, the community and tourists to raise awareness of the need to protect whale sharks and coral reef resources and accomplish sustainable integrated coastal management tasks.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: well-regulated and administered ecotourism
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study - initiative resulted in strict protection
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Oslob Whale Sharks achieves the following in each of the nine factors required for sustainable integrated coastal management [7]; (1) perceived improvements in biophysical conditions by protecting whale sharks from poaching and finning and financing the management of five marine reserves, perceived decreases in destructive fishing, perceived increases in fish abundance, pelagic fish species and catch, (2) engagement of fishers, local government and politicians in decision making, (3) business income for the barangay and municipality that is redistributed as livelihoods programs for the community and alternate livelihoods for fishers (4) strong local legal and policy frameworks that dovetail with national frameworks to support biodiversity conservation, (5) increased capacity for community based law enforcement by the Bantay Dagat, residents and National Police, (6) strong relationships with government, politicians and institutions based on public-private partnership that survives leadership change to support biodiversity conservation, (7) the local design, finance and implementation of all sustainable integrated coastal management tasks, (8) dependence on local partners rather than donors for the finance, design and implementation of integrated coastal management, (9) education of government, politicians, the community and tourists to raise awareness of the need to protect whale sharks and coral reef resources and accomplish sustainable integrated coastal management tasks.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Authors state that "The success of Oslob Whale Sharks appears to be based on income from ticket sales that creates significant livelihoods and the impetus to adopt and finance sustainable integrated coastal management to conserve the whale sharks and coral reef resources that livelihoods are based on."
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2019-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-11-25