Blast fishers invade Mindoro Strait.

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
 | December 12, 2002 | Copyright
(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Byline: Mei Magsino, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro
RODOLFO Inanda, who owns an artificial fish sanctuary called payaw, was looking forward to a good haul of fish this season. It was only this year that Occidental Mindoro did not experience a typhoon and he knew that the catch would be bigger than before. For two more weeks, Inanda and his men waited before going out to sea. Getting the boat ready with food, fishnet, and fuel supplies already cost him P12,000, but that's okay, he thought. This time, the fish in the payaw would be more than enough to double his investment.
Inanda used to harvest as many as 14 banyeras (tubs) of fish in the payaw. Each tub contained 40 kilos of fish that he sold to the market.
The abundance of fish in the sanctuary has even attracted giant tunas that grows as big as 60 kilos each.
When Inanda arrived in the sanctuary, he found that his payaw had been blown up. What remained were floating dead fish, wires, buoys and nets that dynamite fishers left behind.
Underneath, the coral reef that serves as habitat and other marine creatures was also destroyed.
"We're supposed to get more fish this season and we have invested big," Inanda said. "Now, we have nothing. And all of us, including our family, will go hungry."
'Payaw'
Most fishermen in Occidental Mindoro own a payaw, which costs P50,000 to P60,000 to build, according to Inanda.
The structure, whose area varies from 25 to 100 square meters, is surrounded by nets attached to four steel poles anchored by cement-filled drums at a depth of 50 meters. A flag attached to a buoy warns big boats of its presence.
Nipa leaves sometimes cover the surface to lower the water temperature, thus attracting more fish. This makes the payaw a haven for the giant tunas.
When it's time to haul the fish, the owner sends someone to dive into the sanctuary to inspect the bounty of fish inside. Then the nets are cast. For two and a half days, harvesting goes on until as many as 12 banyeras or 480 kilos of assorted fish are filled.
After the hauling, the payaw, is returned to its original structure, where the fish can thrive again and marine ecology can prosper anew.
At this time of the year, giant tunas would have been abundant even during the rainy season. Not anymore. They have migrated elsewhere, another payaw owner said.
Dynamite fishers
Dynamite fishers have started wreaking havoc in the Mindoro Strait since July, Inanda said. "They have big boats used by commercial fishers," he said.
"Once, one of our fishermen was inspecting his payaw when a big boat came. He was driven away from his own payaw as he watched the people from the big boat blast his payaw."
Inanda had his own encounters with commercial fishing boats that now resort to dynamite fishing.
"Our five payaw were located at the Calavite Point, at the farthest end of Paluan and between Lubang Island and mainland Mindoro. It was daytime when the dynamite fishers came and blasted our payaw until nighttime, and even in the next days. They had been blasting payaws day and night," he said.
Among the payaw destroyed by the dynamite fishers were those of Philman Gold Fishing Corp., Vajeo, Arriane and RAV companies, owners in the capital town of Mamburao said. The companies own at least five payaws each, they said.
But what puzzled Inanda and the other owners was that the dynamite fishers were selective in their query. They would haul only sardines and mackerel from the blasted payaw that contained many species of fish.
"It's disgusting to see fish blasted by dynamite," another owner in Paluan said, "In dynamite fishing, the fish recovery is only 15 to 30 percent. The rest go to the bottom and rot."
Defenseless
The big boats are also equipped with high-tech gadgets. When a diver checks the payaw, he sees eight to ten bottles of explosives that were used to blast the structure.
After the destruction, the sanctuary is left with the scattered parts of blasted fish, rendering the payaw useless.
Payaw owners and other fishermen have identified some of the boats used by the big dynamite fishers in their area as the MV Noel, MV Jessica, MV JR, Maritime, and three others, according to Inanda. But they seemed resigned to their fate.
"If the Coast Guard can't do anything to stop the dynamite fishers, how could we fight them?" one owner from Mamburao said.
Mamburao has only one Coast Guard personnel armed with a .45-cal. pistol, the owners said. The dynamite fishers have machine guns to scare away small fishermen and payaw owners.
The fishermen and payaw owners from Paluan to San Jose towns, who rely on fishing for their livelihood, have lost the fishing industry that once boomed in the province.
Half of Mindoro Occidental's population of 400,000 are fishermen, and fishing used to be its second primary industry, next to rice.
Unpaid debts
Baby Bico, a fish trader who owns a fish buying station, said the fishermen and even payaw owners had been heavily indebted to her since July.
"When fishermen go out to sea, they borrow money for me to buy fuel, food and ice to preserve the fish," she said, "When they come back, they sell their catch to me and pay their debts. But now, they can't pay anymore. Their catch has dwindled since July and they have nothing to pay me."
An ice plant owner also lamented that some fish traders had not yet paid for the ice they ordered from him.
Even stevedores at the fish ports, who used to get free fish from handling banyeras, are now going hungry.
At the local market, prices of fish have doubled or tripled, while the once-abundant tuna is gone.