Micro Marine Protected areas for Semporna

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A Roadmap To Develop A Second Sipadan

The role of Micro Marine Protected Areas as a step towards development of the Semporna Barrier Reef Marine Conservation area

 Sipadan has unique geography and location.

BUT the sharks, turtles, fish and other biodiversity can occur in other places.

With this roadmap, Sabah could have many areas with as much tourism potential as Sipadan.

This project document describes practical steps and actions from many organisations and individuals to help develop sustainable ecotourism and rebuild a healthy ecosystem with reef sharks and breeding fish stocks in the Semporna District. This is a discussion document, please email Info@tracc-borneo.org with information, sightings, suggestions, improvements

Endangered Humphead wrasse -
These are still being eaten!

Table of Contents

Roadmap 2

Step 11 Sites for Micro MPA 6

Appendix I Site characteristics and choices 8

Appendix 2 Monitoring & further work 9

Roadmap

Step 1 The economics

Tourists come to Sipadan to be wowed by amazing fish, sharks and turtles. All tour operators compete for Sipadan permits.

More permits or alternative great dive sites would enable the industry to expand.

Step 2 Why is Sipadan unique?

Primarily because it has been protected and the fish, coral and shark populations are healthy.

There are beautiful reefs in many places around Semporna, but Sipadan has more big fish and the only abundant sharks. This is not Sipadan!

Step 3 What do visitors want to see?

Primary attraction is sharks. The bigger the better. Plus turtles and charismatic big fish such as the humphead wrasse.

Black tip reef sharks populations can recover BUT only if we stop eating them!

Step 4 What works

Langkayan island in SIMCA is a totally protected area North of Sandakan and has shown that reef recovery is possible. To expand diving tourism and create a 2^nd Sipadan we need multiple additional areas where shark populations can recover without conflict with existing villagers.

Step 5 What works for ecotourism

In Sabah with many artisanal fishers, only areas with 100% no fishing can create world class ecotourism sites. Small sites with total protection are better than bigger sites with only partial protection.

Step 6 The best protection is ownership

Artificial reefs like this have been built by resorts to attract marine life.

Resorts which are responsible for their own reefs are the best environmental wardens. Many resorts in Semporna have invested money in rebuilding reefs for their guests. At the moment these underwater structures are not legally protected.
 

Step 7 Learn from Forests

The simplest solution to avoid conflict with local residents in the development of Marine Protected Areas (MPA's) is to learn from the terrestrial parks in Sabah:- Mount Kinabalu, Maliau Basin and Danum Valley were chosen because there were few or no people to create conflict as well as for the amazing biodiversity.

Step 8 What works for enforcement

Small protected areas close to ecotourism centres are the easiest to enforce. The house reef from each resort can become a small MPA with enforcement by Honorary Wildlife wardens.

The Darvel Bay reefs are too difficult to patrol and get limited visitors. The NE Semporna Islands, (Mataking, Pandanan, Timba Timba and Pom Pom Island) and the Roach reefs have no village and few fishermen. Mabul and Ligitan have big village communities with many fishermen.

Step 9 Aggregation sites need special protection.

Sites with large populations of fish, sharks, turtles or rays need a localised MPA with regular enforcement and patrols.

• Sri Amil/Ligitan has unique, WORLD CLASS schools of Mobula Rays, These need focused conservation efforts.
• Pom Pom Island has a small population of severely endangered Humphead wrasse.
• Pom Pom Island, Mataking, Pandanan, Timba Timba have large populations of Turtles using the seagrass beds.
  
  

  

  Bumphead parrotfish are a major attraction on Sipadan BUT
  are eaten everywhere else

Step 10 Awareness of existing regulations

Proposed Protection for Endangered Marine life in Semporna

Location	Species	Action	Conservation status
Complete district	Turtles	No hunting/harvest (National & CITES protection)	Critically endangered
Complete district	Giant clams (Tridacna & Hippopus Spp)	No hunting/harvest (State wide protection)	Vulnerable (some species very rare)
Complete district	Whale shark	No hunting/harvest (National & CITES protection)	Vulnerable
Complete district	Humphead wrasse	No hunting/harvest (CITES protection)	Endangered
Complete district	Bumphead parrotfish	No hunting/harvest (CITES protection)	Vulnerable
Complete district	Manta & Mobula Rays	No hunting/harvest (CITES protection)	Threatened to regionally extinct
Complete district	Sharks	No targeted fishing. Bycatch by commercial fishing monitored & regulated	Threatened to regionally extinct

These are works in progress, please email with suggestions to Info@tracc-borneo.org

Aggregation sites for Mobula rays are a National treasure and should be totally protected. 
 

Step 11 Sites for Micro MPA

Proposed Micro MPA for Endangered Marine life in Semporna

Location	Species	MPA size	Enforcement
Roach reef	Black tip reef sharks Coral reefs	500m long X 250m offshore from reef edge	Easy
Kapalai	Coral reefs	500m long X 250m offshore from reef edge	Limited conflicts
Mataking	Turtles, Big eye trevally, Barracuda Coral reefs	West side of Mataking Besar X 250m offshore from reef edge	Easy
Pandanan	Turtles, Bumphead parrotfish Coral reefs	1500m long X 250m offshore from reef edge	Easy
Pom Pom	Turtles, Sharks, Humphead wrasse, Bumphead parrotfish Barracuda, Coral reefs	West side of Pom Pom X 250m offshore from reef edge	Easy
Timba Timba	Turtles, Bumphead parrotfish Coral reefs	??	Village conflicts
Mabul	Coral reefs	?? Possibly Paradise 1 to SWV	Village conflicts
Seaventures Oil rig	Coral reefs	250m circle?	Village conflicts

These are works in progress, please email with suggestions to Info@tracc-borneo.org

Schools of jacks give photo opportunities at many locations. These are at Mataking island but there is no protection in Sabah for tourist attractions.

Step 12 Benefits

12a Environmental Benefits

These proposed Micro MPA will increase biodiversity and allow broodstock fish to develop and breed. The larvae from fish and other species will populate many reefs all over the region. The sites which have no villages will also protect a large number of endangered Turtles.
The public awareness program can also show villagers the destruction caused by blast fishing and the reef restoration effort needed to regrow reefs.

12b Economic benefits

For very little economic cost, the Semporna district will have a series of improved dive and snorkel sites that will help grow the numbers of tourists visiting. Protecting sharks and rays makes the most sense, A UMS study showed that dead sharks are worth RM5 million to Sabah while live sharks are worth RM200 million.

This pile of sharks is worth less than $100 US.
Every diver to sabah would pay an additional $100 to be able to dive with sharks!!

12c Relative benefits

The proposed Micro MPA are a very small proportion of the reef area in Semporna. These areas are very small for healthy big fish populations and tiny for shark areas but they represent a goal which could be achieved.

12d Benefits for nearby communities

MPA in other areas have shown that if 20% of a reef is protected then there are increased benefits to the other 80% of the reef because of export of adult and juvenile fish. The locations suggested as primary sites for Micro MPA are all chosen because there is no local village.

12e Equitable benefits

This proposal does not address the multiple user issues on islands with large local villages. Mabul. Kalapuan, Dinawan etc will each need community consultations to achieve different solutions.

Step 13 Administration

Administration of the Semporna Barrier reef Marine Protected Areas will need to be shared between the Private sector (Resorts, Hotels etc), the Government (District office, Wildlife Dept.) and NGO's (WWF, TRACC, Green Semporna Etc)

Reef restoration by TRACC grows coral to
restore reefs destroyed by blast fishing.

Appendix I Site characteristics and choices

Endangered Species Sites Comparisons

	Turtles	Humphead Wrasse	Bumphead Parrotfish	Giant clams
Sipadan	Abundant	Common	Few	Common
Roach reef	Rare ??	Rare ??	Rare ??	??
Kapalai	Rare	Rare	Rare	Rare
Ligitan/Sri Amil	??	??	??	??
Mataking	Abundant	Rare	Rare	Rare
Pom Pom Island	Abundant	Common	Common	Common
Pandanan	Abundant	Rare	Rare	Rare
Other sites	Few	None	None	occasional

These are works in progress, please email with suggestions to Info@tracc-borneo.org

Reef Shark Sites Comparisons

	Grey reef shark	White tip reef shark	Black tip reef shark	Coral Cat sharks
Sipadan	Few	Abundant	Few	Rarely seen
Roach reef	??	??	Common	??
Ligitan	??	??	??	??
Pom Pom Island	Rare	None	None	Common
Other sites	None	None	None	occasional

These are works in progress, please email with suggestions to Info@tracc-borneo.org

Coral cat sharks have been sucessfully reintroduced to Pom Pom Island

Appendix 2 Monitoring & further work

The monitoring tasks will change as the reefs start to recover but the following is a summary of the scope of work required to create a Marine Protected Area. Much of this information is available.

• Biodiversity surveys to identify what species are present in the area.
• GIS based Habitat survey to map the resources and identify where they are.
• Identify priority areas and tasks for conservation.
• Baseline surveys using standardised techniques for monitoring of critical near shore habitats, including mangrove, sea grass and reef communities.
• Development of a management plan.
• Conduct surveys for Sharks, Turtles, Sea Birds, giant clams, sea cucumber, Fish & Coral
• Replant coral onto damaged reefs. Develop reef restoration techniques and assess effectiveness.
• Clear the beaches of debris to encourage turtle nesting.
• Monitor and record all instances of nesting and egg laying, turtles, birds, fish, coral etc.
• Liase with the Wildlife dept. to remove introduced species such as cats to encourage the return of the sea bird populations.
• Work with Wildlife, UMS, Fisheries and others to determine which rare species have been
• removed from the island and determine if re-introductions of rare species is appropriate.
• Improve awareness of the rich biodiversity within the MPA by taking photos, video and publishing these.
• Write regular Internet, Blog, newspaper and magazine articles
• Liase with ESSCOM, PGA and wildlife rangers to monitor violations of the MPA.
• Conduct regular assessments of the effectiveness of the marine protected area.
• Work with academic institutions to host Train the Trainers courses for future teachers, lecturers and academic mentors.
• Mentor all volunteers, students and visitors to be environmental ambassadors for marine conservation.

Dinner anyone? Endangered Humphead wrasse for sale!

Female humphead wrasse on Sipadan

In Jan 2016, we have just surveyed all the known live fish trade holding tanks and there are approximately 126 individual Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) of sizes from 20-60cm for sale in all the live fish cages close to Semporna.

Really this shocking for 2 reasons.:-  1 there should be many more fish when the wholesale price is US$50 (Rm200) per kilo.  2 There should not be any of these fish for sale. The species is classed as endangered by the IUCN Red list Endangered A2bd+3bd
and protected from export by Malaysian fisheries.  BUT there is no protection within the country.

Malaysians would not eat tigers, elephants or orang utans but endangered marine life :- fish, shark or ray is obviously acceptable

The IUCN red list justification and TRACC observations suggests that the effort from many thousands of fishers results in occasional catches of a few individuals each month or even each year, (IUCN Red list 2016).  The current population of juveniles in fish cages is thought to represent many thousands of hours of fishers searching reefs to catch and remove the last few individuals.

Adult male Humphead wrasse can exceed 1.5m (6ft).
The fish is female until it reaches around 1m
and then it changes sex to become male.

There are only a few of these fish left, Malaysia is proud of its status as a part of the Coral Triangle yet the biggest fish on the reefs is being allowed to go extinct with no attempt at protection.

Between 1996 and 2000, TRACC marine surveys of North Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah & Brunei) spent over 5000 hours underwater. Of 365 sites surveyed, only 11 individuals of the species were found on reefs that were not totally protected. The surveys determined that there were 3 spawning aggregation sites for Humphead wrasse in Sabah (Pulau Layang Layang, Sipadan and Balambangan island)).  A fourth aggregation site was suspected but no breeding activity was seen.
Fishermen interviews and market survey information in 2003 suggested that historically there were more than 50 spawning sites around the coast.

Where have all these fish gone?

Studies on healthy reefs have shown that there are normally 10-20 individuals in each hectare (10,000m2) of reef.  In Semporna district alone the unfished population was probably 350 X 100 x 10 = 350,000 fish (reef area sq km, hectares in 1 sq km and 10 fish).  The population now is less than 1000 so 349,000 fish from Semporna alone have been killed.  That is a very serious measure of overfishing; 349 killed 1 alive!.

Big female fish with no hump.

A re-survey for sharks and other large fish in 2011-2013, with over 10,000 survey hours suggested that only one Humphead wrasse spawning aggregation site at Sipadan MPA was still functional. The populations in Layang Layang and Balambangan have been seriously reduced and we could find no evidence of spawning.  There is however a possibility that SIMCA - Lankayan island has been protected and may have developed a breeding population.  Additional reef surveys by WWF 2009 and TRACC 2013 showed that HHW were effectively extinct in the Semporna region.

Even though scientific surveys could find no Humphead wrasse the price is so high (RM200/kg) that the fishing continues. Small numbers of small HHW (15-25cm) are caught occasionally around the Sabah coast ((where are their parents???)) and these baby fish are all kept alive and transferred to floating fish cages for on-growing and eventual sale to the live fish trade.

TRACC purchased 6 individuals in 2013 (more) and 4 individuals in 2015 from the live fish trade aquaculture cages.  These small individuals (approx 20-25cm) were released back into the wild on Pom Pom Island which is a community protected area.  The rescued fish are seen on a regular basis and are clearly growing.  None of the fish are reproductive size in Jan 2016.

The species is a charismatic icon for healthy reefs,  every book on coral reefs includes photos of Humphead wrasse.  Is the legacy of our generation that we took photos but ate all the Humphead wrasse to extinction?

There are a few of these fish left that have not been eaten, we hope to use the remnant population to repopulate an area, advocate for more effective MPA and create an action leading to a policy change so that the species is totally protected under Malaysian law.

Talk to us if you want to rescue a humphead wrasse which we will release and care for.  Of course we would like you to come and dive to see your fish.  :-)

We have also rescued sharks from the fishermen and will buy more in 2016 -->>more info

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Rescued humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus

Tracc (Tropical research and conservation centre) on Pom Pom Island Semporna, have just rescued 6 humphead wrasse ( also called mauri wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus) from a certain death as the main course for dinner in a live fish restaurant. The volunteers and staff agreed not to drink any beer for a week but to put the same amount of money into a kitty to purchase the folorn looking baby humphead wrasse. TRACC as an organisation agreed to match the volunteers beer fund and together we were able to find enough money to buy all 6 of these endangered fish.

Growout cages full of Humphead wrasse in 2002,
 in 2013 there were 6 fish in this cage

Growout cages full of Humphead wrasse in 2002,
 in 2013 there were 6 fish in this cage

The IUCN endangered species list (the Red list) (Endangered A2bd+3bd ver 3.1) lists humphead wrasse as endangered but TRACC surveys around Semporna and the whole Sabah coast found very, very, very few. Apparently a normal population is around 10 individuals per hectare but in our 370+ hours of surveys on Pom Pom Island and other nearby islands in the Semporna district we found a population of less than 1 individual per sq km. That is a reduction of more than 1000 times - definitely severely endangered. A normal reef should have 10 individuals in a hectare (about the size of a football pitch) but during multiple dives on many different islands and reefs we saw an average of 1 small HHW in each 100 hectares. The information we have for Semporna district is scary but it is not unique, ask any diver and the numbers of humphead wrasse on any reef that is not 100% protected and the answer is always zero. In our area at least, the fish are severely endangered if not regionally extinct and definitely need protection.

The Juvenile HHW fish were transported to Pom Pom Island in a large dustbin filled with seawater and released onto the reef crest at around sunset. The next few days were a bit harrowing as the divers searched and reported none seen.

Small female Humphead wrasse

HOWEVER, I am pleased to report that at about 5 days later we have now seen 2 of the rescued juveniles and they seem to be behaving normally, wandering around the reef and looking for food. Still very shy to hard to approach and get a good picture.

Apparently the fish becomes mature at about 6 years, so our juveniles have a long way to go and we hope to see them many times over the next few years.

As the voice of the rescued fish I would like to thank TRACC and my fellow volunteers for contributing the cash to rescue these 6 fish.

TRACC also rescued coral cat sharks this year :-)

Aug 2013