NEWS
[ Down to Earth ] Let us preserve marine resources
By Sofronio P. Altez

A wonderful experience during my childhood that I treasure is the spectacle of a struggle between man and fish. The time was summer – the month of May, to be more precise – in the late forties. It was just after World War II and I was in the elementary grades. It was midmorning, sunny and a brisk breeze was blowing. I was out in the beach just behind our house in Guijalo playing with the other kids. The sand was still white and clean then. Suddenly a shout was heard and someone pointed towards the sea where some fishing boats each manned by a single man, were floating on the water about 50 meters offshore. On one of these could be observed a frenzied activity. The man on board this boat abandoned his paddle and concentrated on his fishing line which was being dragged to the bottom. Seeing this, the man in the nearest boat paddled close to the first boat and quickly clambered aboard at the prow. This man took the task of keeping the boat steady as it was suddenly propelled forward at great speed, as if motorized. As the boat shot forward the fisherman would pull some of the line in. When he met great resistance, he would release some of it. This went on for several minutes. Then the fish leaped out of the water, some twenty meters ahead and our shouts from the shore increased. After a few minutes of this, the Blue Marlin or Malasugui, the prized fish being caught by the fisherman, went under water straight down still pulling at great speed. The second man manning the paddle was quick to stir the boat so that it would not capsize at the strength of the fish pulling it down. This went on for a few minutes more. Soon the fish tired and the fisherman could sense it. He then pulled the line in steadily to haul in his catch. The five-foot blue – skinned prized catch with its dorsal sail spread out kept weaving from side to side trying to shake off the barb of the fisherman’s hook embedded in its belly. As the fish neared the boat, the fisherman, his harpoon ready, speared the beautiful fish just below its neck and the fight was over. I heard stories that this last part could be dangerous as some fishermen were reportedly speared by the fish instead, as it leaped out of the water straight at the fisherman as it was being pulled in. But fortunately, I was never a witness to one. In the past decade, Malasugui catching has been revolutionized by the payaw or tabao. This is a bamboo raft with leafy branches tied to it, weighted down and submerged at a depth of twenty meters or so. It is attached to a buoy which acts as a marker. This contraption attracts various small fishes which in turn, draw bigger fishes that feed on them. The fishermen tending the tabao then enclose the area with nets and haul in the fish. As much as 5 – 10 malasugui can be caught this way. Which sets us thinking. The Blue Marlin is not indigenous to Lagonoy Gulf. It only comes in the warm months from February to August. But April and May are really the peak months,. You would wonder why. Is it only the warm weather that attracts them to the Gulf? I can remember way back that usually during these months, the small of the samaral, we call kuyog, the young of the anchovy, called maripati, and the young shrimps, the balaw, were gathered near the shore. Then hingmay, or local bagoong, was plentiful. Were they not, in fact, what lured malasugui, and other big fishes and made them return to these parts year after year? Suppose that one day the small fishes disappear from our seas. And why would they not? If the planktons, the seaweeds and the corrals on which they feed and frolic are no more, they surely would. Then can we think for one minute why one day there are no more malasugui caught in these parts? Of course, at first there will be some, and then a few, and then – no more! May be not in my generation. But how about in your generation 20 – 50 years from now? That is why the message is very clear. Let us protect our marine resources - now! It is our legacy, our hope. Let us shield them from those who would wantonly destroy them in the excuse that they also need to live. We all do. But we do not have to destroy what our Creator gave us in abundance. Let us all be vigilant – and be active.