Oil exploration reduces fish catch in Tañon Strait

What used to be a hefty catch has now become sparing for small-scale fishermen in the Visayas. And all are pointing their accusing fingers to an ongoing oil exploration in the Tañon Strait.

An environmental mission composed of fisherfolk, non-government organizations and students recently learned that the oil exploration in the Tañon Strait has affected the income of small fishermen as it has drastically reduced their fish catch by an average of 80 percent since May this year.

The Tañon Strait is a protected seascape separating the islands of Cebu and Negros.

According to Fernando Hicap, leader of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the fishermen’s average fish catch of 20 to 30 kilos a day has decreased to three to five kilos since the oil exploration started four months ago.

Pamalakaya was one of the groups which participated in the Environmental Investigative Mission (EIM) in the area last Sept. 9 to 12.

The other groups were Pamalakaya’s provincial chapter Pamana-Sugbo, Central Visayas Fisherfolk Development Center, Cebu Relief and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu Fisherfolk and Farmers Alliance, and 100 students of the Cebu Normal University.

"Prior to the oil exploration, the small fisherfolk had been earning an average of P1,500 a day, but when Forum Exploration Inc. of Canada and Japanese Petroleum Exploration (Japex) started oil drilling in May, their daily income fell to an average of P150 to P250 a day," Hicap said.

Hicap said these statistics apply mainly to fishermen employing motorized boats, adding that those using non-motorized bancas consider themselves lucky if they catch two kilos of fish a day.

"They used to get as much as six kilos before or during the pre-exploration of oil in the area," he said.

The EIM refuted the supposed claims of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia that small fisherfolk and other affected residents were consulted prior to the oil exploration.

Even the local government units concerned were not consulted about the project, the EIM added.

According to Pamalakaya, the only official form of communications the fishermen got from the provincial government was a notice last May that subsistence fishermen would be banned from fishing near the oil exploration site and those who would violate this would be fined.

The environmental mission was conducted in several coastal barangays in Toledo City and Pinamungajan and Aloguinsan towns.

Aside from a decrease in fish catch, Hicap claimed that regular occurrences of fish kills were documented in the coastal barangays of Luray II, Calong Calong, Ibo, Bato and Sto. Niño in Toledo City; Tajao, Pandacan and Tutay in Pinamungajan town; and Cantabogon, Boho, Poblacion and Bonbon in Aloguinsan town.

"The impact is so disturbing and disastrous. This great chase for oil and gas deposits by transnational monopolies for the sake of monopoly profits would soon trigger a severe fish crisis in the next five to 10 years, judging from the initial feedback we gathered from subsistence fishermen in Cebu," Hicap said.

Pamalakaya called on Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor to immediately revoke the certificate of non-coverage (CNC) and other exploration permits that were issued to the companies undertaking the exploration in the Tañon Strait.

Last March 18, the DENR’s Central Visayas office issued the CNC allowing the oil exploration group to conduct a 2D marine seismic survey in the South Cebu Strait, covering 250 kilometers, the Pamalakaya said.

DENR-Central Visayas director Jun Erasmo Villafañe and William Cuñado, chief of environmental impact assessment of the DENR, signed the CNC, the group said.

The Department of Energy formally endorsed the project last July 18, through Ranilo Abando, director of the Energy Resources Development Bureau, the Pamalakaya said.