Thesis (BS Agribusiness Economics) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, 2023

A three-month fishing prohibition is annually enforced in Davao Gulf to facilitate the sustainable respawning period of pelagic fish species. Despite its favorable environmental implications, this study aimed to investigate the short-term socioeconomic impact of fishery closures on the income of fishermen and the nutritional intake of school-aged children. The study realizes a sample size of 100 respondents per fishing season. The sampling procedures include g*power analysis, stratified random sampling and simple random sampling. The data collection period was done on the third week of September and the fourth week of November which used food recall questionnaires. The methods employed far data analysis are nutrient conversion, paired samples t-tests, and panel regression, analysis to test this hypothesis. The results show a significant difference in fisher folk’s economic situation and school-aged children’s food and nutrient intakes. The economic situation of fishing households and school-aged children’s nutrient intakes were significantly and temporarily affected during the closed fishing season but fish stocks have successfully increased. Moreover, the specific drivers of school-aged children’s intakes were also determined which are fishing season, educational attainment, marital status, years of fishing experience, boat ownership, household size, household income, and feeding program attended. With this, the study highlights the temporary negative effects of fishery closures on fishing communities through decreased fishing income and evident nutrient deficiencies in school-aged children. Thus, policy initiatives such an alternative livelihood programs, and subsidy programs, and feeding programs were suggested to closely focus during closed fishing season to minimize the impacts of this period on the conditions of fishing communities especially school-aged children’s nutrient intakes during fishery closures.