Learning a lesson from experience is hard. But it is harder and even more painful if you lost someone forever. That was what happened to Arman.
He remembered it well. He was only 24 when it happened. One of the four sons of a fisherman, he filed a leave of absence from his work and came home to celebrate his mother’s birthday the following day. His brothers were all married and he is the youngest.
That night, his father asked if he could accompany him doing fishing in the open sea in one of the remote areas in Davao Gulf. The last time Arman did it was when he was only 19. “I want to give something to your mother on her birthday,” his father told him.
The father and son left home at around 9 in the evening. They went straight to the sea. They were in the middle of the sea when his father took something. It was dynamite. He was furious when he saw it. “Tatay, I told you it is against the law to use it,” he said.
“Just this time,” the father replied. “I want something big for your mother’s birthday.”
Before he could say anything, his father throw the dynamite into the water but it was only in the air when it exploded. His father was badly hit and died instantly. Arman lost his left eye.
Like other outlawed fishing methods, dynamite fishing is still rampant throughout the country. Dennis Calvan, executive director of NGOs (non-government organizations) for Fisheries Reform, quoting a report from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said that on a single day an average of 10,000 blasts occur in various parts of the country.
But dynamite fishing is not only practiced in the Philippines but also in other parts of Southeast Asia, as well as in the Aegean Sea and coastal Africa. Dynamite fishing is well documented in the country that it has even been mentioned by Ernst Jünger in his book, Storm of Steel.
“Dynamite or blast fishing became rampant in the Philippines after the Second World War,” wrote Gregg Yan, communication officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). “American soldiers would sometimes lob grenades into shoals of fish, providing local fishing communities with a lucrative new means of instantly increasing their catches.”
Unfortunately, it’s an incredibly destructive practice. “These days, blast fishermen use powdered ammonium nitrate (usually from fertilizer), kerosene and small pebbles, which are packed inside a glass bottle and covered with a blasting cap,” Yan wrote. “New designs integrate long metal rods which absorb sound and act as sinkers.”
The impact underwater is devastating. “A single blast’s shockwave typically travels at about 1500 meters per second (the length of 15 football fields), killing or maiming every fish in range and often liquefying their internal organs,” Yan wrote. “The fish are then collected either by divers using hookah air compressors where an on board engine pumps air through a garden hose, or using nets.”
Researchers believe that destructive fishing practices like blast fishing are one of the biggest threats to the coral reef ecosystems. “Dynamite fishing has contributed to massive destruction of Southeast Asian coral reefs over the past 20 years,” deplored the Endangered Special International. “Large blasted areas are very slow to recover because corals have difficulty establishing on loose or sandy substrate.”
That’s not all. “The damaged coral reefs from blast fishing lead to instant declines in fish species wealth and quantity,” Wikipedia continues. “Explosives used in blast fishing not only kill fish but also destroy coral skeletons, creating unbalanced coral rubble. The elimination of the fish also eliminates the resilience of the coral reefs to climate change, further hindering their recovery.”
Several studies have shown that single blasts cause reefs to recover over 5-10 years, while widespread blasting, as often practiced, “transforms these biodiverse ecosystems into continuous unstable rubble.”
It’s not only coral reefs that are annihilated. Also suffering lost are endangered species that live in deep sea. Last year, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported of a massacre of about 22 rare dwarf sperm whales and 21 dolphins off Siargao Island. “The whales, apparently 22 of them, were killed by dynamite fishing,” said Gianni Boy Grifoni, a Swiss-Italian marine biologist, was quoted as saying.
And then there is the human cost. “Dynamite fishing is prohibited in the Philippines, but many Filipino fishers still use homemade bombs,” Yan wrote. “Some fishermen lose limbs and sometimes even the sight in one or both eyes due to bombs exploding prematurely.”
But despite all these, fishermen are still doing it and the government seems to have had little success in stemming the practice. The reason is that some fishermen use some tricks so they cannot be caught by authorities. Among these are the following:
- Blasting artificial reefs (ARs) which have become effective fish aggregating devices. In most instances, ARs — which are designed to increase fish population in degraded coastal area — are blasted beyond repair;
- Piggybacking on the operation of commercial fishermen. By tailing the big boys of the industry who use sophisticated equipment, the explosive experts are able to track down schools of fish which they blast away before the other side could even cast their cumbersome net; and
- Employing local residents to gather the blasted fish. In areas protected by some authorities, the blast fishers explode and run, leaving the task of collecting the dead fish to trusted local contacts. This arrangement enables them to minimize brushes with law enforcers.
“Dynamite fishing is an inhumane way of fishing,” someone wrote. “It is an effective way for fishermen get a lot of fish fast and simple. By having the abundance of fish to sell, the fishermen slowly get out of the poverty cycle. Most local Filipino fishermen do not realize that by destroying the coral reefs, they destroy the homes of the fish, resulting in less area to fish.”
In 2012, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources declared an “all-out war” against dynamite fishing and other illegal fishing practices. Actually, it is the implementation of Republic Act No. 4003.
Article 3, Section 12 states: “The use of dynamite or other explosives for the stupefying, disabling, killing or taking of fish or other aquatic animals, or under water for any purpose except in the execution of bona fide engineering work and the destruction of wrecks or obstructions to navigation; or the gathering by any means of the fishes or other aquatic animals stupefied, disabled or killed by the action of dynamite or other explosives shall be unlawful.”
On the other hand, “the possession and/or finding, of dynamite, blasting caps, and other explosives in any fishing boat shall constitute a presumption that the said dynamite and/or blasting caps and explosives are being used for fishing purposes” and “that the possession or discovery in any fishing boat of fish caught or killed by the use of dynamite or other explosives under expert testimony shall constitute a presumption that the owner if present in the fishing boat or the fishing crew have been fishing with dynamite or other explosives.”
When asked why dynamite fishing ceased to exist, Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero, former director of the Philippine Council for Marine and Aquatic Research and Development, cites poverty, recklessness and lack of education on environmental protection as the reasons. “Fast money, too,” he adds. (Next: Cyanide fishing)
