The island and nearby vicinity was declared by President Corazon Aquino in June 1990.
[1] A marine biological station run by the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) of nearby Iloilo Province is located on this island.
The one-storey station established in 1977 and renovated twice (in 1987 and in 2008) sits on a 1.64 hectares parcel of land donated to UP in 1964, with Carlos P. Romulo as then University President.
Donors included the family of the first Lieutenant Governor of then SubProvince of Guimaras, the late Antonio Ortiz.
When proclaimed as a national marine reserve in Feb. 8, 1990 by then President Corazon C. Aquino, there was only one family residing in the island, the family of Vicente Basco, the only recognized tenured migrant when Taklong Island became part of the national marine reserve.