In Albay, protecting the sea leads to bountiful tanigue

ALBAY, Philippines – Due to efforts to protect the sea, local fishermen in Albay’s west coast have been able to catch huge volumes of tanigue, an expensive and high-grade fish, in the waters of Catburawan village for over a year now.

“We are happy as our fishermen generating good income from fishing because of healthy corals and after concerted efforts have been done by the city government of Ligao, (Albay 3rd District) Representative Fernando Gonzalez, law enforcers, local officials, and the people for joining hands together to eradicate illegal fishing,” said Catburawan village chieftain Jude Bellen.

Local fisherfolk and their families now benefit from the cooperation between the private and public sectors to weed out illegal fishers in Lagunoy Gulf in the Burias-Ticao Pass, which is rich with plankton, shrimp, krill, and jellyfish.

Gonzalez, an anti-illegal fishing advocate, said the tanigue catch is a big help to the people of Catburawan.

“With our strict anti-illegal fishing campaign initiated several years, this is now the spillover of our concerted efforts to bring back the healthy seas by eradicating big-time illegal fishers in Burias Pass,” Gonzalez said.

The congressman and the city government of Ligao have established several fish sanctuaries in the west coast area to propagate marine resources.

Gonzalez also developed a 62-hectare mangrove plantation in Sitio Tambak in Cabarian, where some 400,000 mangrove propagules have been planted since 2008. – Rappler.com