Fishing operators, NGO team up for Visayan Sea rehab

CEBU, Philippines - While 80 percent of commercial fishing operators in Bantayan island have reportedly shifted to poultry farming, a businessman has ventured into the fishing industry amidst depleting marine resources in the area.

A native of Madridejos town in Bantayan Island, Engr. Romeo Villaceran of Rovilla Construction, led the Northern Cebu Commercial Fishing Operators Association (NOCCOFOA) in supporting the rehabilitation of the Visayan Sea initiated by the School of the Sea and Earth Advocates (SEA), a non-government organization headed by lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr.

NOCCOFOA has 74 existing members with an average of 120 employees each.

Villaceran said it may be risky putting his income from construction business to fishing when the area is already badly devastated by dynamite and cyanide fishing.

He said that poultry farming only has small profit but is permanent. However, fishing has low and high tide season which resulted to the bankruptcy of some operators.

“May thrilling lang ang panagat kay may jackpot man, (The thrill is in fishing is in hitting the jackpot.)” Villaceran told The FREEMAN.

He cited that sardines cost to P600 to P800 per fishing tub while during closed season, it costs P1,800 to P2,000 or even more per tub.

Villaceran said he was inspired by the advocacy of Oposa, who hails from the town of Santa Fe in Bantayan Island, in establishing marine sanctuaries.

“Nakita gyud ang epekto, kanang dagku nga isda makuha mana sa mga mananagat kay mogawas man na sa sanctuary, (The effect is visible. Big fishes are caught by fishermen because they leave the sanctuary.)” Villaceran said.

Citing Bantayan Island, which does not have a single reef in good condition due to dynamite and cyanide fishing, Oposa designed the fish condominium which is also known as “fish condo.”

Being in the construction industry, Villaceran provided the construction of fish condos which cost around P500 each.

The “fish condo” constructed from a concrete net-covered bamboo frame is a structure where gravid or pregnant fish could lay their eggs.  It can also provide refuge for small fishes as marine plants and other organisms could attach and grow in the artificial shelter.

The materials used in the fish shelter closely approximates that of the coral reef which is made mostly from the calcium carbonate secretions of tiny marine animals commonly referred to as corals.

The concrete cast, in turn, is made from three-fourths calcium-rich limestone combined with one-fourth part concrete and shredded plastic wraps.

Last Saturday, Oposa and Villaceran led in the dropping of another batch of approximately 80 kilograms each fish condo assisted by some members of the Philippine Navy, Marine personnel and fishermen at the marine sanctuary in Santa Fe.

Villaceran said they are targeting all marine sanctuaries established in Bantayan island to have these fish condos. —/MIT (FREEMAN)