Chinese blast fishing threatens livelihood
MANILA — Residents of Philippine occupied Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea are not fazed by the growing Chinese' militaristic presence in the disputed waters, but the foreigners' economic practices leave Filipinos worried.
Mary Joy Batiancila, Pag-asa administrator, said fisherfolk are deeply concerned about the banned fishing activities of Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen who intrude in what the Philippines considers as its exclusive economic zone.
Philippine Coast Guard, Pag-asa barangay officials and fishermen would regularly chase or warn illegal fishers away but they kept on returning.
"They are engaged in blast or dynamite fishing. They also use cyanide," Batiancila said.
As a result, the natural ecosystem and the "bahura" or coral reefs around Pag-asa Island are destroyed and the source of livelihood of Filipino fisherfolk are adversely affected.
"[The foreign fishing activity] leads to a drop in the fish catch or incomes of our own fishermen," she said.
Kalayaan town Mayor Eugenio Bitoon-on said these illegal fishing activities made local officials of Kalayaan and Palawan province alert worried over the condition of the sea, considered one of the richest fishing grounds in the country.
Batiancila, meanwhile, said the area around Pag-asa alone is abundant with turtles, dolphins, manta rays and various kinds of fish.
Pag-asa is surrounded by around 20 to 30 hectares of reefs that are home to aquarium and commercial fish.
It provides livelihood and food for the island's 200 dwellers. It is often visited by rare types of turtles like the endangered leatherback.
Just some three nautical miles away from Pag-asa is a sandbar islanders call the "Secret Island," Batiancila said.
The island is also home to teeming marine life which the Islanders are keeping watch over.
About 25.7 kilometers from Pag-asa is Subi Reef, also of the Spratlys or Kalayaan Island group.
On Subi Reef, China government are undertaking massive reclamation and building structures, in the process destroying sea life and hectares upon hectares of coral reefs.
Bitoon-on said the Chinese seem bent on transforming the reef into a man-made island.
Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen often visit Subi Reef and the Secret Island to gather giant clams from the area, leading to a significant decline of the resource, according to recent surveys by the coast guard and local officials.