it is like this,’ ” Alar says. “Now they will protect
the sanctuary if they see someone fishing there.
They understand that we have a nursery here.”
This nursery effect is now considered one of
the key benefits of MPA networks. Larval fish
disperse from reefs in protected areas to unpro-
tected reefs, providing replenishment.
Rene Abesamis, one of Alcala’s colleagues
at Silliman, has studied the process in Dauin’s
MPAs. He chose the vagabond butterflyfish for
his research and found that its larvae can drift
up to 23 miles in monsoon winds and strong
currents before settling into a new reef habitat.
Knowing that fish on the local reef may have
come from neighboring sanctuaries has a pow-
erful effect on people. “It tells them that they areclams by fishers in small outrigger canoes pow-
ered by chain saw and lawn mower engines.
In Dauin, several fishers have retrained as dive
masters. Amado A. Alar II runs Bongo Bongo
Divers, down a side road from a Chooks To Go
fried-chicken house. He tells me that when
Dauin’s MPAs were being established, some
fishers refused to accept the loss of their fishing
grounds. They cut the ropes of the buoys that
marked the sanctuary boundaries, slipped into
protected areas at night to catch fish, and came
to blows with the bantay dagat—municipally
appointed sea wardens—if they were caught.
But when the fishers saw their catches
increase, they changed their tune. “Slowly,
slowly the people understand—‘Ah, that’s why
90 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC