Gleaning Fisheries in Selected Intertidal Areas of Sta.Cruz and Digos City, Davao Del Sur

Gleaning is a common fishery practice in coastal communities since it
only requires simple methods, minimal tools, and gleaning areas are easily
accessible. Macroinvertebrates make up bulk of the gleaning catch given that
most of these fauna are slow-moving or sessile. A study to survey the macro-
invertebrate gleaning fishery in selected intertidal areas of Davao del Sur was
conducted on March 2019. Gleaning site and market surveys were carried out
and purposive sampling was employed for the interview. The study documented
twenty-four (24) genera of macro-invertebrates which belong to three (3) phyla,
namely, Arthropoda, Brachiopoda and Mollusca. Thirteen (13)
macroinvertebrate species were observed in both study sites, respectively. The
Sorensen coefficient (SS) was 0.15 which implies that there are only few similar
species present in both study sites. The interview also revealed that gastropods
and bivalves are the usual targeted species of the gleaners in both study sites.
It can be concluded that macroinvertebrates are still abundant and gleaning
fishery is still prevalent in Barangay Bato, Sta. Cruz and Barangay Sinawilan,
Digos City, Davao del Sur. A more comprehensive study and regular monitoring
of gleaning activities in the study sites is recommended.