Goin’ fishing
While the fishing in the Philippines is still a top industry, life for fishermen and their catches is becoming harder. Large commercial vessels from China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines are competing for the decreasing number of fish in deeper and more dangerous waters off the northern coast of Luzon in the South China Sea. Throw into the mix the numerous smaller, traditional bankas that carry at most 8 fishermen using line and hooks and one can begin to appreciate the dangers involved with simply trying to eek out an existence for the small scale fishermen; many of whom never return home in the fast changing weather far from shore.
High winds and wild waves have postponed my journey to the sea for the second day as our small crew decided to delay our 3-5 day trip to the deep sea. We’re all keeping an eye out on the weather and will try again tonight to head out from Bolinao, Pangasinan for what we hope will be a prosperous trip. And a necessary one; they just arrived in port four days ago and already much of the income earned has been spent. Time to turn the boat around see what fortune may bring… Stay tuned for more stories and image of this trip.
Sunday, 27. January 2008 13:49
do they have cell phones?
maybe that sounds like a stupid question… but i heard in west africa the fisherman use traditional fishing methods but use cell phones to keep track of weather (via sms) and to negotiate with the markets for the best price for their catch.
Monday, 28. January 2008 6:54
yes they use phones, but only when close to the shore. am still on standby but hopefully will head out tonight – and way out. actually we’ll be very close to chinese waters it would seem… for navigation the ultimate tool is the hand-held GPS devise which they all now have and use. expensive, but a very handy tool. once in port, they all tend to work for various fish traders, so the fish is brought in and immediately iced and sent to manila where they can get the most for the fish. sadly, it means that getting good quality fish locally is harder and harder – and increasingly more expensive. another reason that pork, one of the most expensive livestock to grow, is actually cheaper per kilo than fish.