Blast fishing returns with a vengeance to Lingayen Gulf

[John_Brandt]

Blast fishing returns with a vengeance to Pangasinan town


By Bong E. Otadoy
Northern Luzon Bureau
Manila Times
July 24, 2004


SAN FABIAN, Pangasinan, Philippines—Blast fishing in this coastal town in the Fourth District has returned with a vengeance.

Popularly known as “bongbong” in the Pangasinan and Ilocano vernacular, blast fishing has gained headway in Barangays Alacan and Nibaliw where the trading of ammonium nitrate and blasting caps take place regularly, according to concerned citizens interviewed by The Manila Times.

Complaints are increasing that local authorities continue to ignore the unabated sale of blasting caps and ammonium nitrate by unscrupulous suppliers to users in deals along the shoreline.

As a result, the number of fishermen engaged in this illegal practice has risen to nearly 500 in the two barangays, one of the concerned residents said the two main ingredients used in blast fishing are delivered regularly on a weekly basis to the fishermen.

Another source said the supply of ammonium nitrate comes from the owner of a warehouse in the neighboring town of San Jacinto.

Ammonium nitrate is normally used as chemical fertilizer for rice, vegetables and other agricultural products.

But armed with blasting caps, sold at P24 each cut of about six inches long, and coming from mining firms based in Benguet, the combination becomes an illegal fishing device.

The sources said the commercial size is further reduced by fishermen to enable them to make at least four “bongbong” each cut.

A young fisherman admitted buying ammonium nitrate from dealers in his barangay, but declined to say where he gets his supply of blasting caps.

The fishermen also described how the “bongbong” is made. The ammonium nitrate is placed in an empty bottles, usually those that had contained gin. A portion of the blasting cap is mounted on the tip of the bottle to make it an instant blasting device.

With his supply of the explosives, the fisherman goes out to sea when he spot a school of fish, he lights one of the bottles and throws where the fishes are.

“Bongbong” is the easiest means of making a good catch in the vast Lingayen Gulf.

“I know the practice is illegal but I have to take the risk because it provides me a good catch that makes enough money to sustain me and my family,” the fisherman said.

When reminded that blasting also kills numerous fingerlings which results in the decimating the supply of fish later on, fishermen just shrug.

Concerned citizens said local officials have already been informed about the return of blast fishing in their area.

Officials have so far done nothing to stop the practice, in particular, the sale of ammonium nitrate and blasting caps to the users.

Unabated blast fishing, the residents said, poses not only a danger to the fishermen, but also destroys the source of livelihood of many in Pangasinan.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2004/jul/24/yehey/prov/20040724pro4.html

 

[Anonymous]

When reminded that blasting also kills numerous fingerlings which results in the decimating the supply of fish later on, fishermen just shrug.

that bothers me as much as the actual blasting

 

[Anonymous]

“I know the practice is illegal but I have to take the risk because it provides me a good catch that makes enough money to sustain me and my family,” the fisherman said.

Officials have so far done nothing to stop the practice, in particular, the sale of ammonium nitrate and blasting caps to the users.

Why are we wasting time on reform discussion? It obviously will not work when stuff like this happens half a world away. You can replace 'blasting' with 'cyanide' and you'd be able to use the same quotes in Indo and the Philippines.

Accept things as they are and move on...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

“I know the practice is illegal but I have to take the risk because it provides me a good catch that makes enough money to sustain me and my family,” the fisherman said.

Officials have so far done nothing to stop the practice, in particular, the sale of ammonium nitrate and blasting caps to the users.

Why are we wasting time on reform discussion? It obviously will not work when stuff like this happens half a world away. You can replace 'blasting' with 'cyanide' and you'd be able to use the same quotes in Indo and the Philippines.
Accept things as they are and move on...

Peace,

Chip

where's manila ?

 

[Anonymous]

where's manila ?

Okay, Al, ya lost me here...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

read more carefully

 

[Anonymous]

read more carefully

Okay, I found it, but I still don't understand.

Peace,

Chip

 

[nanocat]

At least they're recycling the gin bottles.

 

[Anonymous]

Blast fishing is terrible. It destroys indescriminately. I can't believe that these fishers are unable to do otherwise.

sure the catch may be easier to haul in, but is it less plentiful than net fishing?

 

[clarionreef]

Oh they know what it does,
Hundreds of blast fisherman thruout the Philippines have lost their hands, their arms and lives.
If that doesn't deter them, how do you imagine appeals to our brand of environmentalism will?
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Conservationism will not help them, unless there is an economic alternative to what they are doing now, I understand that.

 

[Anonymous]

Conservationism will not help them, unless there is an economic alternative to what they are doing now, I understand that.

Or enforced economic punishment.. - IMO the evil bastards here aren't necessarily the fishermen alone, its also the enforcers choosing to look the other way.

 

[horge]

Nu-uh.
Maybe you don't understand the local context.


Threats or appeals to conscience?
The bottom line is what counts.
The problem with Lingayen is overlapping jurisdictions and a lot of property litigation, never mind heated arbitration over fishing rights. Otherwise, there'd possibly be some authority able to declare

'Here's where the sanctuary wil be, keep out, and tell us in two years if your catch nearby doesn't increase.'

and/or

Stop illegal fishing methods. Here's your MPA. Here's the subsidy for net or line catch, in two years, let us know if your catch hasn't increased.

That's why MPA's work better in Southern Tagalog and Visayas --Strong provincial authority, and reasonable autonomy in smaller LGU's. Up in Central and Northern Luzon, there are too many rival, wealthy big-name families that a governor or mayor has to appease or contend with, and these families are often at each others' necks over property or (in our case) fishing rights, slugging it out in court, or worse. Pangasinan's list alone of important families is a who's who of business and politics.

When a local resource is under contention, ownership-wise or merely access-wise, with central and local government unable to provide clarity or stability, it's sometimes going to be like widespread looting during a natural disaster, in excruciating slow motion.



horge

 

[Kalkbreath]

Horge, do you still agree that the best all around fix would be to find a miracle envirofriendly replacement for cyanide ?..........one in which both the food fishermen and the MO collectors could utilize?

 

[horge]

Cyanide-substitute, Kalk?
In theory only. In the real world nothing has turned up that comes close to th (immoral) cost-effectiveness of diluted sodium cyanide. There was one promising soporific derived from a certain red algae, but it turned out to be 6x as expensive as some commercial anaesthetics to produce in quantity, and it still produced gross liver damage. Clove oil mixed with seawater hasn't really taken off in Indonea, probably because cyanide is still cheaper. Since cloves don't grow as well up here, I doubt it will work. Handling the oil is furthermore problematic, as prolonged exposure is rather carcinogenic to humans.


Back to the lack of strong leadership over Lingayen's resources... a certain ex-President (who hails from Panagasinan) honestly tried to set things straight in Lingayen Gulf early in his administration, environmentally-speaking.

But then it appears certain interests came a-calling, and within a month, the DENR was muscled into secretly signing off on a cement plant right smack in Bolinao. The factory-owners quietly dredged up a lot of reef to prep the factory site, and would have thence dredged up even more reef continuously ---for processing into lime for cement-making... but then, certain sleep-deprived Filipinos exposed it to public condemnation, and well, it was stopped in its tacks. For a while.

 

[Kalkbreath]

The reason I feel a cyanide substitute is the only answer, is that no matter what happens with MO collection. The food fish collection will still continue. Do we really in our wildest dreams think food fish collectors will ever begin using nets ? Wont happen. Even if somehow we keep cyanide out of PI. The collectors will reach for the next best thing to squirt.Its the desire to squirt that we most likely wont be ble to end with nets. Why not put the thirty-million that MAC and Other REEFORM groups blow each year to use finding a real solution {pun} to the squirt fishing industry? If American pharmaceutical industry can find a magic potion to make us feel happy {prozac} or a solution for our limp members.....{viagra] then it cant be that hard to find a fish tranquilizer with few side effects. Then offer the potion free to collectors through donations from Packard foundtion types.Maybe offer free viagra and prozac with every donation? :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Wierd, I've wonderred the same Kalk, what would a 4' grouper do to a net and itself, when captured in the net? Would the buyers even buy a dinged up grouper? Can the live fish food trade operate nets and H/L for the capture of their fish? In S. California I've got a friend who operates a live fish for food boat, mainly rockfish. He uses H/L solely without any complaints. Can they do that with the larger species of reef groupers? I myself have no clue, I've never even seen a 4' grouper in the wild.

 

[horge]

Gresham,

Anything too much over (roughly) 16" isn't really very saleable, except as a purely-showcase specimen for a restaurant display-- and there aren't many pure displays around. It's an issue of serving size as well as limitations regarding the pratical size of pot, wok or steamer. You're correct that even superficial damage to a live foodfish eliminates a large chunk of profit to the collector, and drugging is the fastest way to extract them from their hidey-holes.

It bears repeating for onlookers:
While I've seen groupers (and much smaller ornamentals) captured with cyanide, and go on to live out a reasonable span in captivity, it realy isn't damage to the object fish that is the only concern, but collateral dmage to the fish's neighbors, both vertebrate and invertebrate. If the live-grouper trade cannot be weaned off cyanide, maybe the Asian obsesseion with it should be banned outright (bwahahahaha---- good luck...)

Blast fishing is a coastal sin, mostly, and quite a bit of it is done where there are no living reefs -- goby-rich seagrass beds or already-dead reefs for instance. However (and Peter Rubec has contested this on prior occasions) I hold that blast fishing is much more damaging than cynide fishing:

A cyanide episode leaves bare coral skeleton and numerous dead cryptics, but the coral skeleton remains for recolonization by both cryptics and new coral larvae.

A blast episode leaves living coral fragments and numerous dead cryptics. The problem is that in many cases, hydraulic perturbation can be robust enough to reduce those living coral fragments into sand, or bury them completely in sand. Without tenable colonization sites, even new coral larvae cannot be recruited easily, and cryptics have little place to make thir home.


horge

 

[Fish_dave]

The live grouper trade came to the Solomons several years ago. Rumor has it that they brought some cyanide with them but the locals reported them to fisheries and fisheries pulled the permits for that boat. A couple of other operators came and fisheries posted observers on the mother boat to watch for illegal collecting methods. These boats (two that I know of) distributed line and special hooks for catching mainly coral trout but also some other species of grouper. The locals caught quite a lot of fish for them but could not fill the boat fast enough for the operators to feel that they would have a profitable trip. If it takes three weeks to fill the boats live wells then the fish caught at the beginning are starting to get thin and weak. They do try to feed while on board the holding ship but it is not as efficient as filling the ship in one week and getting underway back to Hong Kong. They did also set up some sea cages so that the locals could fill up the cages and then when the mother ship came to pick up the grouper they would have a good start on filling the ship and could make a quicker turnaround. This also failed as the locals wanted to be paid daily for their catch but the guys in charge of the pens would not pay untill the ship had picked up the fish and they would pay for what had survived and was picked up. From what I heard from the fishermen they would catch around 12 to 15 fish a day each on hook and line that were the correct species for the live trade. I am not sure what they were paid for the fish or if it was per piece or by weight. They did not want any large fish I do know, I think that the limit was around a half meter in length.

Some of my collectors got a wild hair to collect grouper one week with hand nets. I needed a few to send to France for genetic studies so I told them to catch a few small groupers that week. They brought in almost 600 small grouper of assorted species. All caught with hand nets within 5 days time. I do not know how many of them would be any good for the food trade if any at all of the collected species. These were all 6 inch and smaller juv grouper that would need to be pen raised before being of eating size.

It amazed me how many juv. food type fish could be collected by hand on good reefs in a fairly short amount of time.

Dave

 

[Kalkbreath]

I think that collection of food fish in PI is very different. The fish have been stalked for so many generations in PI that the groupers dont come out to be hand fed like in the Solomon's. Just like in an aquarium, the fish your trying to net seems to know your after him and the fish your not attempting to net seems to also know your not after him . All fish in PI seem to fear divers. Kinda like they the way fish fear dolphin or seals .... they dash for cover and hide. That makes handnetting a tricky deal when the fish know your a top level predator. Any fish of size in PI has reach that age by learning to avoid collectors. :wink: