The “Dive Dumaguete” project was launched yesterday with the opening of the Banilad Marine Sanctuary for divers, snorkelers, and local and foreign tourists. The project is a collaborative effort of the city government through the City Tourism Office, Barangay Banilad, Bantay Dagat, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and local divers who inventoried and cleaned up the site. They are not only deep-sea diving enthusiasts but are also advocates of the protection and preservation of marine resources, city tourism officer Woodrow Maquiling Jr. said. He said the marine sanctuary was established 13 years ago through an ordinance authored by Councilor Nelson Patrimonio, but it is only now that the city found the potential and the income that could be generated from its operation. Maquiling said dive sites in the province, including Apo Island, generate an P8 million income a year. Dumaguete, that is the gateway to the province, should have a piece of the pie in the diving industry, that is the top tourism service in Negros Oriental, he added. Coastal Resource Management Office records show that the income generated from diving in Dauin town steadily increased, from P92,000 in 2002, P2 million - 2005, P7 million - P2012, and P7.5 million in 2013. “Dive Dumaguete” is expected to increase tourist arrivals, aside from the economic activity and food security benefits that will be derived from the project. City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria said that from the start, his administration has been finding ways and means to bring in more investors to Dumaguete, and this is one thing already in existence in the city that can lure in tourists and bring a lot of revenues with minimal expenses for the city. Sagarbarria said his dream is to convert all the eight coastal barangays of Dumaguete into dive sites by putting up artificial reefs. With an increase of P47 million in next year’s budget, a sizeable amount can go to the CTO, he added. He said he would love to see that in the future, a tourist can just bring his diving gear to the Rizal boulevard and view the fish sanctuaries in the area. City Administrator William Ablong said the Banilad Marine Protected Area was a product of a technical assistance from the USAID. One intervention is to declare around 10 hectares as marine sanctuary after the underwater surveys revealed that the area is a very good site for coral reef preservation and protection. An inventory of marine species at the Banilad MPA showed a school of barracuda species, that divers call a “Barracuda Alley,” inside the fish sanctuary. Mike Alano and his team of local divers Gibson Sojor Jr. and Percival Silvestre said that contrary to notions that barracudas are dangerous, they are actually friendly. Other species found are turtles, blue spotted stingrays, flying sea Bernard, sweet lips, sea horses, jack fish, groupers, yellow snappers, moray eel, cleaner shrimps, frog fish, coral goby, glass shrimps, lion fish, mantis shrimps, nudi branch, scorpion fish, lobsters, and a rare kind of shrimp called “Harlequeen shrimp”. Alano urged dive enthusiasts and tourists to help in the preservation of the site. Meanwhile, the CTO is studying a proposal to allow fisher folks to ferry snorkelers to the dive site for a fee.*JG http://visayandailystar.com/2014/July/24/negor2.htm Larry
I hope Matiao and Ihalason beach just beside the sanctuary is rid of the acre of garbage on its beaches.
