Fishing gear and methods

        The revised third volume of the series of Fishing Gear and Methods in Southeast Asia covers the Philippines. In the old volume, four (4) survey trips were made from September 1988 to August 1989 covering the fishing villages of seven (7) regions and 204 designs of fishing gear and methods. Additional 133 designs of marine and inland fishing gear and methods were obtained from another eight (8) regions through the survey conducted by BFAR gear technologists from 1996-2001. The work described in this revised report is the result of a team effort by members of the SEAFDEC Training Department and technologists from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Philippines. The topics presented are the same as in volume I and II consisting of a compilation of data, information and schematic drawings of existing fishing gear and methods. The boundaries of the study area, shown on the chart have been drawn according to technical requirement, and for the purposes of this survey only.
        We acknowledge with special thanks the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines for their cooperation and technical support. We are grateful to many persons who helped us in collecting the data, particularly to Mr. Jonathan O. Dickson and Mr. Elmer B. Alba who were our coordinators throughout the first and second surveys respectively. For this revised volume, we thank Mr. Cesar M. Drilon, Jr. SEAFDEC Council Director and Undersecretary for Fisheries and Livestocks of the Department of Agriculture, and Atty. Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr., Director of the BFAR for their support.
        We also wish to express our sincere thanks to Dr. Veravat Hongskul, Dr. Thiraphan Bhukaswan, the Former Secretary-General of SEAFDEC for extending financial support for the survey. And also our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Maitree Duangsawasdi, the former Secretary-General who approved financial support of Mr. Jonathan O. Dickson’s travel to SEAFDEC/TD for final revision and publication of this book. We wish to thank also Dr. Panu Tavarutmaneegul, Secretary General and Chief, TD for his initiative in revising the monograph and Dr. Yasuhisa Kato for including the financial support from the RCCRF funds.
        We thank again, Ms. Marylene M. Mandreza of BFAR for assistance in all of the typing work. Finally, we thank Mr. Rupert Elstow, Technical Editor of SEAFDEC Training Department, for editing the descriptions in this volume.

The Philippines is an archipelago composed of more than 7,000 islands bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the South China Sea, in the south by the Celebes Sea and Bornean waters just a few degrees north of the equator and in the north by Taiwanese waters. Territorial waters defined in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, had an area of about 1,666,000 sq. km but with the promulgation of the Exclusive Economic Zone, the territorial marine area is increased to 2,200,000 sq. km.
Fisheries is officially classified into commercial fisheries, municipal fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Commercial fisheries include capture fishing operations using vessels of over 3 Gross tannage (GT) while municipal fisheries include capture fishing operations using boats of 3 GT or less including other forms of fishing not involving the use In 2000, total fish production was 2,868,605 MT of which 32.99% came from the commercial sector, 32.9% came from the municipal sector and 34.1% from the aquaculture sector (Table 1).

Source of Data: Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, 2001

        Marine fishing is conducted by both the municipal and commercial fishery sectors. Municipal fishing is concentrated within an area extending 15 km from the shoreline while commercial fishing takes place beyond the 15 km limit, as defined by the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 (Republic Act # 8550). However, small and medium commercial fishing vessels are allowed to operate within 10.1 to 15 km area provided all the requirements under section 18 of R.A. #8550 are complied with.
         The marine fishery resources are composed of marine flora (plants) and fauna (animals), which are typical of the central Indo-West Pacific region, and are characterized by generally high species diversity. A majority of the marine animals are fish of which about 2,400 species are known to inhabit Philippine waters. The fishes, invertebrate fauna and the seaweeds contribute significantly to the total marine production. Fish are grouped into two according to the layers of the ocean which they occupy. The first is the pelagic group consisting of the large and small pelagic fish, the second, are the demersal fish which maybe soft or hard bottom fish. Also contributing to the production are invertebrates and fry resources.
        Based on the latest data of the number of municipal fishing bancas, it is estimated that there were 469,807 bancas (less than 3 gt) existing in 2000 and 3,601 commercial fishing vessels (more than 3 gt) in 1999. Fishing bancas are mostly concentrated in Regions IV, VIII, VII, and V while commercial fishing boats are registered mostly in Regions NCR, XI, VI, and IX (Tables 2 and 3).
        Fish production for both the aquaculture and commercial sectors generally increased from 1991-2000 (Table 4). However, the municipal sector showed declining production in 1994 to 1999 compared to previous years but increased a little in 2000. The value of fish production for the three sectors showed an increasing trend (Table 5).

TABLE 2. NUMBER OF MUNICIPAL FISHING BANCAS BY REGION 2000*

Region	Total	Motorized	Non-Motorized
CAR	660	49	611
I	17,678	11,641	6,037
II	3,304	1,502	1,802
III	27,038	18,375	8,663
IV	69,927	26,569	43,358
V	54,715	19,453	35,262
VI	41,808	16,234	25,574
VII	56,142	19,100	37,042
VIII	58,068	16,255	41,813
IX	45,650	13,280	32,370
X	9,041	2,472	6,569
XI	24,099	11,382	12,717
XII	10,759	2,671	8,088
XIII	31,283	11,202	20,081
ARMM	19,653	7,442	12,193
Total	469,807	177,627	292,180
Percent	100	38	62

Source of Data: * Regional Yearbook, 2000, BFAR Philippine Fisheries Profile, 2000

TABLE 3. NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSELS BY REGION, 1999

Region	Number	Gross Tonnage
NCR	1,351	158,509.59
I	113	1,832.99
II	64	717.94
III	40	1,080.67
IV	221	3,857.38
V	160	4,385.85
VI	404	25,674.39
VII	94	2,053.81
VIII	124	1,740.27
IX	392	22,758.66
X	43	1,215.1
XI	555	45,893.86
XII	7	85.09
XIII	26	293.86
ARMM	7	181.94
Total	3,601	270,281.40

Source: BFAR Philippine Fisheries Profile, 2000

TABLE 4. VOLUME OF FISH PRODUCTION, 1991-2000 (METRIC TONS)

Year	Aquaculture	Municipal	Commercial	Total
2000	978,169	943,951	946,485	2,868,605
1999	948,995	918,781	948,754	2,816,530
1998	954,656	891,146	940,533	2,786,335
1997	957,390	942,466	884,651	2,784,507
1996	980,829	909,248	879,073	2,769,150
1995	919,810	972,043	893,232	2,785,085
1994	791,444	1,009,738	885,446	2,686,628
1993	772,082	1,030,274	845,431	2,647,787
1992	736,381	1,084,360	804,866	2,625,607
1991	692,401	1,146,765	759,815	2,598,981

TABLE 5. VALUE OF FISH PRODUCTION ( 106 PESOS), 1991-2000

Year	Aquaculture	Municipal	Commercial	Total
2000	28,876	32,515	33,878	95,269
1999	26,810	30,175	32,242	89,227
1998	26,161	28,966	29,737	84,864
1997	27,383	27,393	25,935	80,711
1996	33,206	25,373	24,555	83,134
1995	33,555	26,464	23,065	83,084
1994	35,003	24,475	20,714	80,192
1993	30,163	22,031	18,021	70,215
1992	25,986	22,656	16,801	65,443
1991	22,656	22,133	15,245	60,034
Total	289,799	262,181	240,193	792,173

Source: 1999 BFAR Philippine Fisheries Profile, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, 2001

TABLE 6. MUNICIPAL FISH PRODUCTION BY REGION, PHILIPPINES, 1996-2000 (METRIC TONS)

Region	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Philippines	909,248	924,466	891,146	924,693	943,951
NCR	3,665	3,529	4,605	4,156	3,982
CAR	198	254	763	1,071	1,075
I	18,677	18,811	23,182	23,006	23,392
II	11,854	12,171	11,571	14,622	17,037
III	10,925	10,760	11,242	10,220	11,176
IV	275,418	266,418	255,912	259,580	257,835
V	65,395	73,373	72,968	72,478	73,803
VI	141,387	136,536	126,695	132,617	134,227
VII	40,530	44,881	41,257	45,323	47,482
VIII	35,411	37,282	36,026	36,927	37,203
IX	134,724	129,211	113,598	116,686	122,479
X	14,898	16,273	16,361	15,751	17,079
XI	39,537	51,021	46,463	48,637	48,119
XII	9,092	12,140	17,950	18,313	19,673
ARMM	42,718	49,552	52,300	61,012	62,790
CARAGA	64,819	62,254	60,253	64,294	66,599

Source: Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, 2001

TABLE 7. COMMERCIAL FISH PRODUCTION BY REGION, 2000 (METRIC TONS)

Region	Marine Commercial
NCR	142,849
I	2,250
II	14,130
III	12,286
IV	124,849
V	21,732
VI	130,486
VII	64,109
VIII	32,497
IX	166,224
X	21,207
XI	147,592
XII	10,861
XIII	4,825
ARMM	40,686
Total	936,583

Source: Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, 2001

        The most productive regions in the municipal sector are IV, VI, IX and V (Table 6) and in the commercial sector are IX, XI, NCR and VI. The NCR (National Capital Region) only has the highest landings and not the highest productivity of the area. (Table 7).
In terms of fishing grounds¸ municipal production comes mostly from the Visayan Sea, Bohol Sea, East Sulu Sea, Moro Gulf and Guimaras Strait (Table 8) while commercial production comes from West Palawan Waters, South Sulu Sea, Visayan Sea, Moro Gulf and Lamon Bay (Table 9).
        There are 14 types of fishing gear being used by the commercial sector. In terms of production, purse seine and ring net produced 51.41% and 16.31%, respectively in 1995 (Table 10). On the other hand, the gillnet and hook and line were the most productive for municipal fishing gear, producing 32.85% and 23.87%, respectively (Table 11).
           Pelagic fishing for tuna and other smaller pelagics and invertebrates is done by purse seine, ring net, bag net, hook and line, push net, gillnet, troll line, drift filter net and round haul seine. Demersal fishing is done primarily by trawl, danish seine, beach seine, and drive-in-net. The utilization of these fishing gears vary from region to region, and their operation is affected by the prevailing monsoon and fishing season. In coastal waters, many kinds of fishing gear and methods are used by the fishermen making the fishing effort very high and contributing to overfishing.

TABLE 8. MUNICIPAL FISHERY PRODUCTION BY MAJOR FISHING GROUND 1994-1995 (METRIC TONS)

Fishing Ground	1994		1995
Fishing Ground	Quantity	% Share	Quantity	% Share
Visayan Sea	89695	11.4	88616	11.28
Bohol Sea	88312	11.22	70756	9.01
East Sulu Sea	69498	8.83	71486	9.1
Moro Gulf	71441	9.08	73938	9.41
Guimaras Strait	53776	6.83	51332	6.54
South Sulu Sea	42990	5.46	42019	5.35
West Palawan Waters	40161	5.1	46948	5.98
Lamon Bay	37279	4.74	41862	5.33
Leyte Gulf	32655	4.15	49901	6.35
Samar Sea	37005	4.7	40236	5.12
Davao Gulf	29573	3.76	33743	4.3
Cuyo Pass	29440	3.74	25587	3.26
Tayabas Bay	26482	3.37	17498	2.23
Others	138540	17.61	131447	16.74
Total	786847	100	785369	100

Source: Fisheries Statistics, 1997, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics

With the promulgation of the Republic Act No. 8550, also known as the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, fishing boats of less than 3 GT are provided with a wider area in which to operate to include municipal and national waters up to 200 nautical miles from the shoreline. Commercial fishing boats are allowed by law to fish outside the 15 km area of the municipal waters. Because of declining catch and over-exploitation of coastal waters, some of the

TABLE 9. COMMERCIAL FISHERY PRODUCTION BY MAJOR FISHING GROUNDS,1994-1995 (METRIC TONS)

Fishing Ground	1994		1995
Fishing Ground	Quantity	% Share	Quantity	% Share
West Palawan Waters	150,949	17.57	187,728	21.02
South Sulu Sea	149,095	17.35	180,532	20.21
Visayan Sea	134,537	15.66	120,267	13.46
Moro Gulf	102,575	11.94	83,352	9.33
Lamon Bay	48,572	5.65	55,325	6.19
Bohol Sea	36,981	4.3	36,161	4.05
East Sulu Sea	27,431	3.19	18,994	2.13
International Waters	19,373	2.25	44,140	4.94
Samar Sea	30,944	3.6	25,602	2.87
Guimaras Strait	30,209	3.52	24,163	2.71
Manila Bay	26,222	3.05	25,046	2.8
Tayabas Bay	21,661	2.52	17,140	1.92
Sibuyan Sea	8,756	1.02	20,065	2.25
Others	72,023	8.38	54,717	6.13
Total	859,328	100	893,232	100

TABLE 10. COMMERCIAL FISHERY PRODUCTION BY FISHING GEAR, 1994-1995 (METRIC TONS)

Fishing Gear	1994		1995
Fishing Gear	Quantity	% Share	Quantity	% Share
Purse Seine	400246	46.58	459229	51.41
Ring net	145676	16.95	145676	16.31
Trawl	66089	7.69	66089	7.4
Danish Seine	93325	10.86	93325	10.45
Bag net	77891	9.06	77891	8.72
Hook and Line	24270	2.82	24270	2.72
Others	26752	3.11	26752	2.99

Source: Fisheries Statistics, 1997, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics commercial fishing boat operators are now fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone and on the high seas. It is expected that this will reduce fishing effort in coastal waters.

TABLE 11. MUNICIPAL FISHERY PRODUCTION BY FISHING GEAR, 1994-1995 (METRIC TONS)

Fishing Gear	1994		1995
Fishing Gear	Quantity	% Share	Quantity	% Share
Gill net	249,710	31.74	258,021	32.85
Hook and Line	183,502	23.32	187,502	23.87
Beach Seine	57,216	7.27	40,101	5.11
Fish Corral	38,155	4.85	31,056	3.95
Ring net	32,308	4.11	40516	5.16
Baby Trawl	27,277	3.47	23,517	2.99
Spear	25,142	3.2	27910	3.55
Longline	22,936	2.91	24,,885	3.17
Danish Seine	17,146	2.18	117,76	1.5
Fish Pot	19,361	2.46	16,532	2.1
Bag net	13,838	1.76	8,663	1.1
Crab Lift net	7,913	1.01	6,148	0.78
Purse Seine	10,214	1.3	14,576	1.86
Others	81,729	10.39	94,166	11.99
Total	786,847	100	785,369	100

Source: Fisheries Statistics, 1997, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics