Research Centers
CENTER FOR LIMNOLOGICAL, AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY AND MARICULTURE STUDIES
Center Director: Maximino R. Abejo III, M.A.Ed.
Cebu Technological University (CTU) San Francisco is one of the nine external campuses of CTU. It is strategically located in the Northern Poblacion of the Municipality of San Francisco, Province of Cebu. The municipality of San Francisco is one of the four municipalities comprising the Islands of Camotes, which is at the northeastern part of mainland Cebu; specifically located east of mainland Cebu, southwest of Leyte Island, and north of Bohol Island. Camotes Islands is endowed with aquatic natural landscapes, including Lake Danao, estuaries, waterfalls and cave waters where diverse flora and fauna abound. Some of these aquatic resources provide livelihood to the residents surrounding the area, and serve as tourist destinations to local and foreign tourists. As a DENR protected area, Camotes Islands abound with Mangroves and Marine Sanctuaries species providing food and resources to the people of Camotes.
Food Security and Poverty Alleviation are one of the thrusts of the Philippine government. Aquaculture is one of the important activities that can ensure such mentioned thrusts. With the richness of marine and freshwater resources, food can be secured, thus poverty can be alleviated. However, with the recent climatic changes, overfishing due to overpopulation, illegal fishing, man-induced environmental degradation and other anthropogenic activities, the decline of aquatic resources and biodiversity loss are substantially experienced.
The Camotes Sea is approximately 1240 to 1250 longitudes in the east and 100 to 110 latitude in the north. It is bounded on the North by the Camotes Islands, on the East by Leyte Island, on the south by Danajon Bank in Bohol, and on the west by Mainland Cebu. It covers a total area of 10,900 square kilometers with a deep off-shelf water of 9,000 square kilometers and depth ranging from 10-800 meters. The shelf in the south and the north coast of Bohol covers about 1,400 square kilometers until Danajon Bank, with a depth ranging from 14 meters (BFAR Fisheries Profile 1996). The Camotes Sea is one of the rich fishing grounds in the country and fishing is the leading source of income. Diverse flora and fauna become the source of livelihood to many fisherfolks.
On the other hand, Lake Danao, is a picturesque freshwater inland body of water with an area of 649 hectares located in the Municipality of San Francisco. It is the largest and longest lake in the Visayas (Station profile of Carmen Lake Danao Fishery Complex/ Research Station for Freshwater Fisheries Development Zone, 1995). The lake is surrounded by six barangays out of 15 in this Municipality. It supplies water to the rice fields in Sitio Danao and Patabog. Its shoreline ranges from rocky to soft mud. The lake water is free from pollutants except for allochthonous materials. Ipomoea aquatica and Typha latifolia are the common flora that grows in the periphery of the lake, as well as Tilapia fish which originally abound the lake. It is a potential resource for food, social and economic activities to the people of Camotes. Presently, Lake Danao is one of the booming tourist attractions on the Island. As a result, different economic activities are flourishing in the area.
At present, there is a decline in fish catch and other aquatic products. Prices of fishes and aquatic products are soaring high since the demand becomes higher but the supply becomes lesser. To lessen the impact of these problems, target fishes and other important resources need to be saved, conserved and preserved by culture and propagation activities to ensure the sustainability of their supply. Research on biodiversity, ecological status, anthropogenic activities, and many others are endeavors that need to be undertaken to conserve and preserve resources, and formulate management and protection policies. Hence, the Center is created.
The office deals with the different aquatic environments and their ecology. It further study marine life particularly aquatic plants, invertebrates, fishes, aquatic mammals and other groups of organisms.
Contact Us
- Berenice T. Andriano
- 09122218176
- clabms.sanfran@ctu.edu.ph