‘Lapat’ indigenous management system safeguards fisheries of Abra River
Customarily, the indigenous people are the ones who tend to the land and its abundant resources. Not so long ago, it seems they cared for the environment, or at least they had some eco-friendly culture and practices that, if observed, will preserve the planet for the coming generations.
Regarding the fisheries of the Abra River, the indigenous community practiced the lapat system, a community-based resource management practice aimed at avoiding depletion and over-exploitation of fish in the river. Abra River has headwaters in the Cordillera Mountain Range and flows through Santa, Ilocos Sur and the West Philippine Sea. This river is a habitat for many marine and freshwater organisms at different life stages.
During the September 2024 meeting of the Fisheries Management Area 6 (FMA) Science Advisory Group (SAG) in which I am a member, Mary Tauli and Marx Garcia from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) of the Cordillera Administrative Region strongly stressed the need to establish the Abra River’s freshwater ecosystem as a sub-FMA. According to the study conducted by BFAR, there is great potential for the fishing industry along the river, with an annual catch of as much as 14 tons in 2020 alone. The river has great biological diversity, where 27 fish species were found, along with 35 unidentified ones. The dominant fish species are largesnout goby (bunog), threadfin goby (palileng) and freshwater eels (igat), as well crustaceans udang and kappi. Some non-native species including tilapia and carp, however, comingle with these indigenous species.
Lapat system
Approaching the river mouth, or sabang as it is called locally, one is greeted by an assortment of estuarine fish species like jacks (talakitok), snappers (aliso), perches (aguning), Indo-Pacific tarpons (bulan-bulan), halfbeaks (susay) and mullets (purong). Non-biologists would be surprised that some of them even go several kilometers upstream of this 200-kilometer-long river. However, this riverine biodiversity is at risk due to several factors, including siltation because of deforestation, mining, and agriculture practices done upstream. Nevertheless, the fisheries ecosystems are somehow able to withstand these changing conditions. The locals attribute this to the Lapat System, which they think contributes to the resilience of the fish population in the river. By not overexploiting fish stocks, the fish can withstand the changing conditions. There is stability in numbers.
But this indigenous practice is confined upstream; the unmanaged downstream areas have been heavily exploited resulting in overexploitation of the once abundant species ludong mullet. This is highlighted in an article titled “Looking for ‘ludong’ in Abra River,” published here in the January 5, 2025 issue of the Inquirer. The rarity of this species makes it very expensive. The inflated price prompts fishermen to strive for more. The price exceeding one thousand pesos a kilogram further drives a vicious cycle that brings the species closer to extinction. In Cagayan River, where the fish was once abundant, ludong is now being sold at a shocking price of around P2000 to P5000 pesos per kilogram as their numbers dwindle and thus are harder to find. Commonly referred to as the President’s fish, ludong is a catadromous species of mullet that migrates to the sea to spawn. This is why they get overfished, mainly because they form spawning aggregations downstream.
Lapat systems are definite forms of resource management systems that are specific to the Maeng ethnolinguistic group. This indigenous management system is anchored on information sharing and the carrying out of the bagawas ritual and lapat guidelines. The community’s forest guardians implement it with the barangay council and dap-ay when they witness wrongdoings. According to anthropologist Andrei Angnged, the dap-ay, which was formed by Indigenous peoples in the Cordillera, is the most fundamental social and political institution of governance over the ‘ili’ (defined as a common territory or native village) and also serves as the place where important matters concerning the management of the village are mostly overseen. Its jurisdiction includes settling disputes and administering justice to wrongdoers.
The lapat system has ensured the sustainability of fishing resources and the preservation of the river’s biodiversity by respecting indigenous peoples’ rights to land and resources. It embraces the principles of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management long before they became the norms in natural resources management. This is analogous to the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management embraced at the FMA scale, albeit at the micro-scale.
Fish sanctuaries
Understanding the importance of protecting migratory fish stocks, I suggested the establishment of fish sanctuaries at multiple points along the 200-km long Abra River as one of the important steps in improving the long-term conservation efforts of the riverine resources. These sanctuaries serve as “stepping stones” for the migratory species and habitats for the non-migratory species. While encouraging the measures proposed by CAR and providing support as a potential member of the sub-SAG group that may be formed, my commitment to fostering sustainable management of aquatic ecosystem resources for the next generation is also emphasized. Through collaborative action and maintaining traditional approaches such as the lapat system, we can enhance the Abra River fisheries’ resilience against various factors, including climate change. This will guarantee a sustainable balance between the riverine ecosystem and the livelihood of the local population in the future.
However, our management of riverine fisheries must be approached from a wider perspective. It includes the scope above the lapat system and outside of BFAR’s administrative boundaries, that is, the entire Abra River Basin. With this approach, we can deal with a host of issues apart from fisheries, including flood prevention because of deforestation upstream. Preserving the Abra River goes beyond protecting its biota and resource users to ensure the integrity of the riverine environments, from which part of these biota spawn and reside.
Dr. Michael P. Atrigenio is an Assistant Professor at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines Diliman and the program head of the Professional Masters in Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Program. He is also the President of the Marine Environment and Resources Foundation.
