Introduction The residents of San Salvador Island, off the coast of Masinloc, Zambales, face
chal-lenges typical of fishing communities in the Philippines. Ignorance and poverty have
led fisherfolk to use unsound fishing methods such as explosives, sodium cyanide, and
finemesh nets. These practices, combined with the effects of heavy siltation from the
denuded Zambales Mountains, have resulted in declining fish yields from the island's
fringing coral reefs. Social dynamics common to many small Philippine communities had …