LIFE
AFLOAT ON A FISH CAGE
Early
Obsession: I
am Dindo, now I am in my late forties, thirty years ago I once dreamed of
becoming a cyclist in Asia’s first professional cycling race in the Tour ng
Pilipinas , in fact I began my active or competitive cycling career should we
say; at age sixteenth or while I was in my Fourth Year high school.
In the 1980’s the flashy road bikes
dominate the highways and in our place a bunch of teen-agers rode their race
bikes well that made my so envious. I was fortunate my father’s younger brother
had an old road bike which was hung for a long time at his barn. Since he no
longer used it, I asked for it and so I had my first ever road bike.
The bike’s frame including the rest of its
moving parts - the hubs, chain ring, and the rear sprockets or practically the
drive-train components were rusted already, seemingly eroded by the aging of
time. So piece by piece, I began replacing it with second hand spare parts from
my friends who upgraded their bikes, or I got it as brand new either through
lay-away plan or discounted cash sales from a local bike shop.
At last, after applying the final red coat
paint, my bike stood and faced me as if it was really a competitive racing
bike. In a company of friends who like me also a rascal, we travelled
oftentimes to Cagayan de Oro or to the north-east side of our town, and
sometimes to the zigzags of Bukidnon, where the road gave us some lung-busting
climbs. Of course, I did have my own glories, winning and collecting medals and
sometimes trophies in local bike competitions. I knew how to ride and even
utilized fully well the art of drafting and just would sprint to the finish
whenever I saw the finish line some hundreds of meters away. Drafting is
practically hiding from the headwinds.
But my glory days ended just as the road
bikes ended its realm because mountain biking era began in 1991 in Cagayan de
Oro. My cycling buddies had their new mountain bikes, and I only watched them
rode, I did not have one. I requested my father to buy me one, but he just
said, “We could not afford it my son.” With that I ended my cycling days and
busied myself to various menial works, from piece rate worker to paquiao contracts, farm hands, jitney conductor,
vegetable vendor, but never as a fisherman although my father was a fisherman
because I feared the seas most than great heights. I feared it not because I do
not known how to swim or because I just would sink whenever I am on water.
Indeed, I can stay afloat and could swim but only on a dog style stroke, and it
does not matter me what style would it be so long as I can manage to swim and
stay alive. Nevertheless, I confess I am not a good swimmer.
The Reality – A Fish Cage Caretaker: Knowing almost all
kinds of works, I grew into manhood with body and muscles fully developed
because of involvement to a superb muscular activity in work. For this, I seemed
to have gained the nod of approval not much from the ladies, but from the third
sex in their passionate murmurs that I looked like Mr. Universe. “Oh! What a
guy”, I heard them said.
Thereafter, I tried courting women because I was already twenty-three years old, but had no girlfriend yet. A pretty girl living near a spring, which is a bit far from our house; was the lovely face, I eyed much to win. With the blessings of time, I was able to fool her for she believed what I had said. So, we were wedded by the summer of 1994 and early the following year, our little boy came; and christened him as “Junnie” not after my name, but of my expression of fondness, totally amused being capable of procreating a son, whose looks is quiet closer to my mother-in-law than me. What an inspiration and every year we had a child, and by 1997 we had three children, thereby I decided to revoke my license in procreation. Of the three, two are boys and it is a good number to carry on our Last Name Igno.
Our third child is now in Grade 9 and next
year he would be Fourth Year, but he would not graduate yet being already
subject to the new curriculum. It would be only after finishing Grade 12 that
he could be considered as to have graduated the Secondary Course; and it is a
long way indeed three more years to come. It means additional burden for us
parents because we have to give him every day his fare, snack allowance and so
on; nevertheless it would not matter how tiresome to earn money so long as he
would endure studying, I would do the best I can for him so he may continue his
studies even up to college.
However, life today is certainly not like
when it was twenty years ago. As man turns to age, he would feel more aches and
the more aches he has, the less work he could do unlike when he was younger.
After tasting and taming all the works no
matter how hard it had been, I really sweated hard and crested my brow only to
have bread for my family, now I feel the exhaustion and pains, the consequence
of my daringness before.
At late forties, there is nothing I can do
than continue the work which I have been doing or working now. The coolness of
the western breeze and strong lulling of the untamed waves at first made me
indeed too afraid and sick as I walked barefoot along the floating bamboo poles
trying to balance myself as I fed the great schools of fish in the daytime and
monitor them even in the stillness of the night. My work is a Fish Cage
Caretaker, and on this hoarse environ I am calling this as my second home. I
take care of the three fish cages where its multi-thousand peso inhabitants
live – the milkfish or bangus of Lambago; and on whatever circumstance planet
Earth would offer us, I would always be there ready to take care or defend the
bangus.
On March 20, 2007 the Bangus Fish Cage
technology was introduced by BFAR to our place. A Mariculture Park 195.7 hectare
at the south-western part of the town [seas of Waterfall, Baliwagan, Binitinan,
Hermano and Poblacion Barangay 6] was declared by the Local Government of
Balingasag for the haven of bangus’ fish cages.[i]
A traditional fish cage measuring squarely
10 x 10 meters is made of bamboo poles with four additional big plastic drum-like
floaters attached to its corners and a concrete barrel-full is anchored to the
sea-bed to steady the cage and aiding the stability of the buoys or floaters, is
the home of fifteen thousand 40-grams size bangus (as big as an index finger)
that have to be caged until they would grow bigger so that later on two or three
bangus could qualify to weigh more than a kilogram.
Care-takering
a
40 pounder bangus in a 10 x 10 cages is no joke job. Every day I have to paddle
a kilometre or two away from the shore with bags of feeds either from Vitarich,
Tateh, BMEG and Oversea. Feeding them should be based scientifically otherwise
money and effort would just be wasted. A 40 grammer bangus shall be fed at
first with started feeds, and after about three weeks or when the bangus could
be able to tackle the much harsher kind of feeds; it is only by then that the
grower’s mash or crumbles shall be given.
For three or four months the crumbles shall
be their staple food, but they must not be overfed otherwise the owners would
question the caretaker why the 6OO bags limit or estimates were consumed
earlier even before the harvest. Normally, it is a conservative estimate that a
15OOO bangus until harvest shall consume not more than 6OO bags and this
include bags of starter mash while the bangus are still in the 40 grammer
stage; crumbles are the greater part of their diet; and the finisher’s mash
which usually are given some days or week before the scheduled harvest.
It is a great joy for every caretaker seeing
their bangus fully developed and ready for harvest, at least he had passed the
test for that season. A bangus fish caging season lasts only from three to four
months; and the shortness of the season is too enough to determine one’s resourcefulness,
industry, and patience. Cage takers shall be patient of the harsh environs
where he is in since how could he fought against nature more so during rough
seas. Moreover, he must be resourceful, industrious to always be vigilant that
the fish nets would not be torn apart. If that happens fish cage caretakers
could no longer recover the deserting bangus, for the neighboring fishermen
would surely catch them and there are no distinguishing marks to claim
ownership of those runaway bangus by their legitimate owner.
Harvest Time: BFAR through the DPWH has erected a wharf
at sitio Mahayahay, in fact fish landing facility is there too; and
strategically they are located near the mariculture park.[ii] It is here where the bangus are sorted
according to sizes, so much so that a caretaker’s honesty is tested and
measured at this point. The bangus are counted by piece or by the hundreds; the
owner or owners would always know if there are pilferages. Nevertheless,
pilferage could be safeguarded because usually fish cages have watchmen during
the night. What could not be avoided is mortality and whenever this case
occurs, our job is to exhibit at least the tail- portion of the fish if the
whole part is no longer worthy of exhibiting.
Whenever harvest is
good – that is to say less mortality; no escapees meaning the fish net never
gave way or there was no big opening or hole of the net where the bangus could
escape and pass through; or there was no super typhoon that passed the area
which savagely demolished the fish cages structures, then that day could be
good for us because our employer would give us a little bonus depending on how
big is his heart for us since there is no collective bargaining agreement here.
A caretaker’s daily
wage is from P200.00 to P250.00 plus a sack of rice or a half sack of rice depending
on the gratuity of the employer. The night watchman’s wages is lesser than the
daytime caretaker because the former only watches and never feeds the bangus.
There are plenty of
varieties of fish like “hagyos”, “mo-ong lawadnon”, “mansa”, “traquito”, “gisaw”, “lapis”, “tambankalang"
and so on near fish cages feeding on morsels; however, we neither could hook nor
net them out because we are there to work and not to fish; and the area too is
restricted from fishing.
Impact of Fish Cage Industry:
Firstly, it gives
employment because normally for operation, fish cages need full-time care takers
and watchmen. The 195.07 hectare mariculture park is occupied densely by cages.
From this number of floating and operational cages, one could conservatively
estimate how many workers could be directly working thereat.
With regards to
revenue, fish cage operators secure every year Mayor’s Permit from the Local
Government Unit. All local regulatory fees, including business fees are to be
paid and such would accrue to the coffers of the municipality.
Since almost every
day or two in a week there would be harvest, the local public market always has
bangus at the display tables of the Fish Section. Nevertheless, housewives
still insist that its prize is similar with the prize at Cagayan de Oro,
despite these fish are produced locally. Let us leave this remark and may the
administrator or persons responsible for the prize control be aware of this.
Another impact is
the prestige it brings to Balingasag because when fish vendors in Cagayan de Oro say “Balingasag
bangus” that is it to mean that the fish does not smell of mud since they are
cultured and reared in the marineculture park, where the salinity of the seawater is
more or less conducive for bangus habitat, for the rivers of Waterfall,
Musi-musi and Binitinan debouch their fresh water to the seas along the cove of
the highlands of Punta Gorda.
Moreover, the town
celebrates yearly on the acclaimed date [May 21] of Charter Celebration, the
“Lambangus Festival.” From the wharf near the Peoples Palace and stretching to
approximately five hundred meters away towards the Gazeebo, bangus are grilled
where its sweet aroma always say that it is produced in Balingasag. Tidbits or
bigger morsel, or even one big whole grilled bangus would be readily given to
one should only one has the courage to ask for it.
One impact local
environmentalists say which to them is not good, is the accumulation of toxic
chemicals from inorganic feeds that are used as the main dietary input to raise
the bangus. They say the more compact are the fish cages and the bigger the
density of population of cages, the greater would be the accumulation of toxic
waste as residues of the crumbles formed on the seafloor. Accordingly, there
would be pollution and this I have a hard time in reconciling why “bangus”
thrive in great abundance and size if the water is contaminated or polluted.
Perhaps, bangus in
the cages and other fish frequenting the cages for morsels are resilient against
pollution. So what perhaps is pollution up against towards fish, or with
people? Probably its effect is likely felt immediately by people because there
are no more holiday bathers on these areas. Maybe BFAR or BFAD could explain
this.
Caretakers’
Insights: This
work is not extremely dangerous unlike those done in open oceans like those in
the Bearing Seas for king crab fishing; South Pacific for tuna fishing; along
the Atlantic Ocean in the seas of Newfoundland and its vicinities for sword
fish fishing; or any of the oceans and seas around the world, these fish cages
of Balingasag lie only a nautical mile or two away from the south-western shore
of the town and protected against the southern winds by the Mountains
stretching from where the Cabulig winds up towards west up to the Punta Gorda
Mountain. However, such is not a warranty of our personal safety.
In this workplace, it is not the southern
or easterly winds that inflict the worst damage on us, but it is the westerly
monsoon season that always gives us the aches. Between us and the western part,
there are no natural barriers – island to lessen or minimize the strength of
gale force winds and the big waves. When typhoons came, fish cages – the 10 x
10 bamboo square raft with top or surface opening about 4 x 4 for the top net
[top net cover is mounted to prevent the bangus from jumping out the cage]; the
5 x 5 fish cages which the marginal fisher folks operated with BFAR assistance;
and the Norwegian type fish cage [owned by big-time commercial fish cages
operators like the Manzano, Lim Tzu (Dolmar) and Vasallo], an octagonal shape
made of PVC pipes that accommodates 60,000 bangus at a time, all these rudderless
crafts but float because of buoys. To stay fix in one place, a drum full of
concrete is securely tied with a nylon rope and lowered in the depth to serve
as the anchor or stabilizer of the cage. With this, the cage obtains stability,
buoyant because of the floaters and seems to have a direction. If there would
be a skipper to this craft, let the weary Fish Cage Caretakers take the honors
for he is always there in all-weather conditions braving the seas for the sake
of the bangus, and would not dare to abandon the fish cage unless the strongest
storm signal would be hoisted in the area by PAG-ASA. These crafts sway to and
fro, tilting to whatever sides, dancing on every lulling of the enormous waves;
and if by accident the fish net below that prevents the bangus from going
somewhere, would give way or tear apart, then expect for a great disaster – all
the bangus will be lost and could no longer be recovered because fishermen on
shore are on wolfish watch to fish for these lost preys.
Losing the bangus would be a big financial
loss. The fish cage owner would repair his fish cage, maybe construct another
one and procure or install new nets; and surely he would be out of that
season’s harvest and again begin, back to square one or really from the
beginning. If that predicament comes, it
would be a bigger woe for us. It would
mean no bonus and the worst of it, is when the cage operator may go insolvent, and
we too would be out of work – out of bread. Thus, I always pray that big storms
would not come to ravage the bangus fish cage industry because it would mean an
economic displacement for us, who relayed solely our livelihood on it. In my
case, I was able to send my eldest son to college and he had finished out from
this trade. Should only this economic activity continue, I look forward to that
day when my remaining two children could likewise finish their studies.
The lulling of the waves, the gale force
winds and coolness of the night no longer anymore seem to bother, or make us
dizzy, fearful and apprehensive that something not good would happen to us
while on tour of duty because we pretend to be brave men, despite of the
presence of imminent occupational dangers. Paddling a hundred times to and fro
the shore to the fish cage every day and carrying bags of crumbles for storing
the day’s food ration at the only shade of the fish cage in a form of turret,
has been a routine work for us, with big waves or small waves, it does not
matter anymore, we always sail otherwise the bangus would starve.
By the passing of time, Caretakers are now
experts in the trade that they have come to love because BFAR had trained us.
We walked with ease on the vertical bamboo poles; despite the waves mercilessly
pounded the cage during stormy days. There is no more seasickness, but all of
us have similar aspirations, dreams and longings that may one day our employers
would enrol us to government agencies where we could contribute part of our
meagre income plus their contributions so in the near future when we retire
from this work due to old age or disability, we could at least enjoy what a
lowly paid working men deserve under our laws.
It is not an assertion, but it is a fact
that through our pains and profuse sweats, we did help much our big bosses earn
their multi-thousand pesos in this lucrative fish cage bangus industry.
May that day come, one day soon.
ooo
Note:
This story is just a work of fiction;
however, the place-town and the Mariculture Park, the government agency
concerned, the fish cage operators, and so with the facts presented are not
virtual realities. Based on personal interview or interviews with the
caretakers and some marginal fish cage owners, one could at least be able to
understand or visualize a clearer picture how life on a fish cage goes on.
[i] Former President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her term inaugurated the Balingasag Mariculture
Park. Balingasag’s Local Chief executive when the project started was and still
is on his third and final term as Mayor is Atty. Alexis S. Quina.
[ii] A Fish Processing
Plant is likewise constructed along the Balingasag-Waterfall By-pass Road.
However, today the plant has not taken off well because there are lots of
things to be done like storage facility among others, so in the strictest sense
of the word it would become indeed operational.
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