Among the success factors behind the Fisheries Conservation and Management (FCM) efforts in the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Eco-Region (SSMA) are the policies, institutions and processes that provide the framework for their implementation. The policy review of local governments on fisheries conservation and management was conducted based on a comprehensive review of literature on institutional development, various policy documents and pronouncements of the national and local governments at the provincial city and municipal levels on the roles of pertinent national government agencies-the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and interagency and multisectoral bodies such as the Presidential Commission for the Integrated Conservation and Development of the Sulu and Celebes Seas (PCICDSCS). This was supplemented by field visits, interviews as well as proceedings and documentation of workshops on integrated coastal management and panning (ICMP), and coastal resources and management (CRM). It was discovered that CRM concerns overlap with FCM concerns, hence the need to look at these approaches in a complementary fashion.
