MORE and more people are now into fishing—in the city, that is, wherein bodies of water are notoriously dirty and contaminated with toxic pollutants.
“I come here during weekends. I like to go fishing a lot,” said 47-year-old Richard Desierre of Malibay, Pasay. “Others come here on weekends.”
Desierre, a welding contractor, said he packs his fishing rod, checks his hooks, lines and sinker, and goes to Harbour Square along Manila Bay.
Situated near the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex, the Harbour Square is a small park with a good number of restaurants on Roxas Boulevard, Manila. Just a few minutes away from his house, Desierre said he rides his bicycle to the area and goes fishing on weekends.
Rest and relaxation
“It relieves me from stress. Working every day is stressful. You need to relax and go out and breathe fresh air, which you can’t have if you are always inside the house,” he said.
Fishing is not cheap. Desierre’s seven fishing rods cost him around P3,000 each, excluding the hooks, lines and sinkers.
Harbour Square allows fishing in the area between10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Early morning joggers, who also love to watch the sunset on Manila Bay, frequent the place for a cup of coffee or tea and relax, watching from a distance what looks like a fishing competition between middle-aged men along the bay near the Manila Yacht Club.
Sometimes, Desierre goes all the way to Mandaluyong or Pasig to fish at the Pasig River, where they can catch carp, or pla-pla.
Food or bar chow
“Sometimes, we eat the fish. It is also good for bar chow. You don’t have to buy,” he said.
Some fishpond owners in Valenzuela City and Malabon allow fishing, but fishermen had to pay P50 per kilo of bangus or tilapia they can catch.
Despite its poor water quality, Desierre finds fishing in Manila Bay fun and exciting. For him, the fish they caught in the bay are as safe to eat as any other fish sold in the market.
“Those fish in the market? You don’t even know where they came from. The fish here are no different. They are even better-tasting,” he said. Desierre brings home his catch, averaging 4 kilograms to 5 kg. “One time, I was able to catch 6 kg of bangus [milkfish] and tilapia. I was just lucky, maybe. Others went home with nothing,” he said.
Other fishermen sell to passersby at P90 to P100 each bangus they catch, weighing at least a kilo. The same with tilapia, which sometimes weigh an average of half-a-kilo per piece.
“There are plenty of bangus and tilapia, here. There are also banak,” Desierre said, showing his fish net with two live medium-sized tilapia he caught earlier.
On a Saturday or Sunday, about 80 to 100 urban fishermen gather at the seafront. Whenever there is a catch, they would shout jubilantly, cheering for their buddy’s prized catch.
Sports and recreation
Ruben Aquino, 61, an electrical contractor of F.B. Harizon Street also in Pasay City, said fishing for him is sports and recreation. He has been fishing along Manila Bay for more than 10 years.
He sometimes went home with 2 kg of bangus, and was fortunate enough to catch 6 kg of tilapia once.
“I was born here. I used to fish here even before all these [infrastructure] development. We only use bamboo as fishing rod then. I also used improvised spear gun then,” Aquino said.
Considering fishing a sports, he said, one has to have “a skill. You have to learn how to fish.”
Fostering camaraderie
More than being his sports, now that he is semiretired, Aquino said fishing in the city has taught those who frequent Manila Bay to be friendly.
“We laugh together, we talk, we have fun. No fight. We sometimes taunt each other, but those are friendly gestures,” he said.
They know almost all about each other. Fishing in the city, he said, fosters good camaraderie.
‘Still unhealthy’
The bad news is, while fishing in the city may be a healthy way of life, eating the fish caught near the breakwater may be contaminated and “unsafe” to eat.
The water quality in Manila Bay did not improve much since the Supreme Court issued a continuing mandamus ordering concerned government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to rehabilitate Manila Bay.
The order dated December 18, 2008, directed 13 government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate and, eventually, bring back the waters of Manila Bay.
While a staff from the “red-tide unit” of the Bureau of Fisheries and, Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said most areas in Manila Bay are free from toxic red tides, which was also indicated in BFAR’s Shellfish Bulletin 24 on August 15, the public advisory refers to shellfish, such as mussels.
Salvador Batellar of the of the Manila Bay Office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the DENR said the latest laboratory test along the stretch of Manila Bay, particularly in Manila, revealed high level of coliform and fecal coliform. The fecal coliform is particularly worrisome as they may carry pathogenic bacteria in fishes and can be harmful to humans when consumed.
“That is why the Department of Health even warned the public against bathing in Manila Bay because they are not safe,”Bataller said. The DENR-EMB conducts periodic review of the quality of water in major water bodies, including Manila Bay.
He said the latest laboratory test revealed that the current coliform level of the water in Manila Bay runs over a million most probable number (MPN) per 100 millileters (ml). This is way above the acceptable level of 100 MPN of coliform per 100 ml to declare fish caught in a particular water body safe for human consumption.
Productive fishing ground
Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas National Chairman Fernando Hicap said Manila Bay has always been a productive fishing ground.
“Until now, Manila Bay is still productive. That is why we are calling on concerned government agencies to stop the massive land-reclamation projects and rehabilitate Manila Bay to protect this traditional fishing ground in Luzon,” Hicap, a former lawmaker representing the Anakpawis Party told the BusinessMirror.
Saving Manila Bay from unbridled development like other important fishing grounds, become even more imperative because of the dwindling fish catch that affects millions of more than a million small fisherman.
“We really need to rehabilitate and protect our fishing grounds, particularly our municipal fishing grounds against destructive fishing methods and overfishing by commercial fishing vessels,” he said.
Hicap added that law enforcers should also strictly enforce the law against dumping of toxic waste into waterways that eventually drift to Manila Bay.
“If we can rehabilitate all our waterways and Manila Bay and protect our fishing grounds, it would help make the lives of our fishermen better,” he said.
Like Manila Bay, major rivers and river tributaries in Metro Manila are dying because of the indiscriminate dumping of garbage and wastewater.
With clean and healthy rivers, fishing grounds like Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay can become more productive. More important, with healthy fishing grounds, fishing in the city can be safe and a lot more fun.