KAPATAGAN, Lanao del Norte—The Panguil Bay Development Council (PBDC) has announced on Friday that Panguil Bay, the once-rich fishing ground in the northwestern part of Mindanao, would soon spring back to its abundant state after decades of abuse and indiscriminate harvesting of its marine animals.
This, as the PBDC—which is composed of local government units (LGUs) officials and heads of government agencies coming from Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao—declared that it has successfully removed illegal-fishing structures to realize the bay’s cleanup and rehabilitation.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said the fishery resources of the Paguil Bay have considerably declined in terms of catch rates and volume due to the unabated illegal and destructive fishing practices, particularly the use of filter nets, locally known as sanggab, and dynamite fishing.
Sanggab is a cone-shaped mesh of fine nets that is positioned against the current during high tide. It catches even the smallest fry, without escape.
The PBDC said the destruction of natural habitat of marine life, where mangrove forests were converted to fishponds; the dumping of poisonous chemicals from fishponds; and the increasing human population along the shore of the bay contributed to the decline.
Agriculture Undersecretary Asis G. Perez for fisheries and PBDC chairman said the success of their Panguil Bay campaign was primarily due to the exercise of political will among officials of the LGUs determined to bring back abundance in the bay.
“The people who should be given the recognition in this successful endeavor are no other than the local officials; the law enforcers, like the police; the Coast Guard; the government workers, who unceasingly did their job until Panguil Bay has no more sanggab and other illegal-fishing structures.” Perez said.
In the Tangub City area, which has the highest number of the illegal-fishing structures, numbering more than 900 filter nets, the LGU started dismantling the illegal-fishing gears on April 26. It declared the area sanggab-free in September.
Tangub City Mayor Philip Tan, who did not promise livelihood for the affected workers, said his concern is for the rehabilitation of the bay.
“True enough, we are now enjoying an abundance of supply of fish coming from the bay. This condition is an opportunity for the affected workers to fish legally for their livelihood,” Tan said.
The PBDC removed 2,339 sanggab, 1,424 voluntarily by the operators, while 915 were forcefully removed. The illegal structures have been in the bay for decades being used by the fishermen as the most practical gear to fish.
The BFAR estimated that a sanggab, 10 years ago, can easily harvest about 200 kilograms of fish, crabs and prawns. The catch dwindled as the number of sanggab and other illegal gears increased. Before they were removed, a sanggab could hardly harvest a kilogram of prawn. The PBDC identified the areas in the towns of Baroy, Tubod, Tambulig, Bonifacio, Aurora and Kolambugan, and the cities of Ozamiz and Tangub, where sanggab were operated and involved more than 1,200 workers.
To mitigate the displacement of the 1,200 affected fishermen, the PBDC, in a resolution, approved that those engaged in the sanggab operation will be given an alternative livelihood. The BFAR has earmarked P16 million to fund the various livelihood programs for the affected workers.
The Panguil Bay is a small but rich fishing ground that supports the livelihood of thousands of small-scale fishermen in northwest Mindanao. It is flanked by 10 municipalities and two cities belonging to the three provinces of Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental in Zamboanga and Northern Mindanao regions.
Over the years, the Panguil Bay has been subjected to the divided governance among the municipalities, unregulated resource use and minimal interventions.
The lack of holistic resource and environmental management program poses a challenge to the sustainability of this natural resource and the livelihood of the marginalized fishermen.
The Panguil Bay is historically a rich fishing ground, particularly of the three main groups of fishery resources—finfish, mollusks and crustaceans (shrimps and crabs), which are the most commercially harvested.
“When overfishing and the use of illegal gears stop, it will only take four to six months and Panguil Bay’s fishery resource would again be in abundance,” BFAR-Northern Mindanao Director Visa Dimerin said.