CONFLICTS AMONG SMALL-SCALE FISHERMEN DUE TO
"PANTUKOS" - A FISHING GEAR OPERATED IN
MANILA BAY, PHILIPPINES
by
Jonathan Dickson
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
Arcadia Building, 860 Quezon Avenue,
Quezon City, Philippines
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the design and operation of "Pantukos", a surface drive-in-net which
causes fishing conflict among small-scale fishermen using gill nets, push nets, hand lines, and other
small gears operating in Manila Bay. It is alleged that this gear is destructive to surface fisheries due
to the hurling of ligh;ed crude oil onto the sea surface in order to scare schools of sardines and anchovies
towards the net. Their operation has been prohibited in Paranaque municipal waters due to competition
with local fishermen in catching resource.
The detailed operation of the gear is hereby discussed. An approach to eliminate conflict and
excessive fishing effort is presented.
1. Introduction
The fishermen of Bulacan Province, specifically in Barangay* Pugad, Hagonoy and Barangay Masukol,
Paombong, which are located adjacent to the northern waters of Manila Bay, have been operating the "pantukos"
in catching "silinyasi" (sardine) fingerlings and anchovies in the northern and eastern waters of Manila Bay during
the northeast monsoon and in western waters during the southwest monsoon.
The major occupation in both barangays is sustenance fishing. The "pantukos" is an old type of fishing
gear which has been operational since 1959 (Maca ngay and Dickson 1973).
Manila Bay (Figure 1) has an area of approximately 1,352 square km. The mouth is guarded by the island
of Corregidor, forming northern and southern channels, thus allowing the free circulation of seawater in the bay.
The major fish species caught here are smail shrimps (acetes), tuna, squid, roundscad, slipmouth, sardine, mullet,
bream, anchovy, crab, squid, etc. Manila Bay is definitely a rich fishing ground (Table 1) but its being close to the
center of population makes it vulnerable to multifarious fishing exploitation. In 1984, municipal fishermen contributed 27,184 mt or 60.8% of the bay's total production (Table 2). Small-scale fishing gears commonly used are
the gill net, hook and line, push net, ring net; and purse seine. Commercial fishing gears contributed 17,509 mt or
39.2% of the bay's production (Table 3).
2. Description and operation
2.1 Definition
The "pantukos" or surface drive-in-net is a tuck seine operated by two boats during dark phases of the
moon for catching sardine fingerlings. A school of fish is driven into the net by a cordon of smaller bancas dug-outs
with two lights (waswas) which are made of a jute sack, dipped in crude oil and placed into an empty can of 0.5 1
capacity.
* A barangay is district subdivision.
236
Table 1. Major species caught in Manila Bay in metric tons.
Species
Acetes (small shrimp)
Yellowfin and big-eyed tuna
Anchovies
Blue crab
Skipjack
White shrimp
Mullet
Threadfin breams
Slipmouth
Squid
Roundscad
Green Mussel
Fusiliers
Spanish Mackerel
Source: BFAR, Fisheries Statistics 198@1984.
Table 3. Production of-commtrcial fishing gear in Manila Bay (mt).
Fishing gear types
Trawl
Bagnet
Pushnet
Ringnet
Purse seimie
Gillnet
Hook and line
TOTAL
Table 4. Bill for materials for one (1) unit of pantukos.
PARTS
QUANTITY
Sinkers
Pull ropes
rolls
frns
frns
pc
PC
PC
pc
pcs
pcs
2 Pa
4 pcs
Twine (n.r.)
20 spools
Main webbing
Selvage 1
Selvage 2
Floatline
Reeving Line
Primary Line
Reeving Line
Floats
25
1%
1%
1
1
1
1
230
130
SPECIFICATION
100m x 200MD x 28K x 210/2
30 MD x 9 k x 210/15
0.5'0 x 30 fms. long
0.25"0 x 30 frns long
0.25'0 x 30 frns long
0 9 0 x 30 frns long
0.25If0 x 30 frns long
2.5" x 4" (synthetic)
3.5" x 6" (synthetic)
20-25 kgs each
120 frns a) 30 frns x l.5"8
b) 30 frns x 1.0"0
c) 60 frns x 0.75"0
1 lb; 210/6; 210/9; 210/15
2.2 Fishing craft used
One fishing fleet for "pantukos" operation requires two catcher boats and 10 t a 20 smaller scare bancas.
The two catcher boats differ in size. The bigger one measures not more than 15 m long. It has an outrigger on the
portside only. It is three masted and powered by a 75 horse power diesel engine. It has one lighted mast and one
scare light (waswas) for a marker.
The smaller catcher boat is not more than 13 m long. It has an outrigger on the starboard side only. It is
also three-masted but powered by a 45 horse power diesel engine. It has one lighted mast and one scare light for
a marker. The sides without outriggers enable the two boats to join shipside to facilitate transfer of nets and the
catches from one to the other.
The bigger catcher boat carries 10 fishermen while the smaller one carries six. The 10 to 20 scare bancas
are almost identical in size. Each one measures about 10 m long and has no outriggers and mast. Each is powered
by a 9 to 16 horse power gasoline engine and provided with two lights (waswas) on the bow. These bancas cany two
fishermen each.
2.3 The net und scarelight
The net is made up of nylon materials with the structural design as shown in Figure 2. The sizes of mesh
vary in each portion of the net. The lights (waswas) are locally made of empty 0.51 lubricating oil cans and jute
sacks. The sacks are dipped in crude oil and set alight during the fishing operation (Figure 3).
2.4 Fishing operation
Prior to departure which is usually set at 6:00o'clock in the evening, the fishermen ready their fishing supplies
such as gasoline, lights, diesel fuel oil and food. The men on the bigger catcher boat take care of the net, some pull
ropes and fish baskets while those on the smaller catcher boat take charge of the other pull ropes.
The fishing fleet steams to the fishing ground and starts scouting for schools of fish. Usually, locating fish
schools is through vision and experience of the masterfisherman. Upon sighting sizeable schools of sardines and
anchovies, he gives the signal for the operation.
The bigger catcher boat comes close to the smaller catcher boat and the two boats run parallel in order to
enable the fishermen to connect the end of the pull rope to the rings of the net while the scare bancas run at full speed
about 500 meters ahead of the catcher boats in a half-moon formation. The scare boats then stop and the fishermen
on board light their scarelights and start .driving the school of fish towards the catcher boats where the net is already
set in the form of an arc (Figure 4). The men on the scare bancas use oars or paddles or, if engines are used, they
move slowly but make a loud noise by striking-thesides of their bancas. When the fish reach the mouth of the net,
the fishermen on board the catcher.boats pull the hauling ropes which are attached to the lower part of the net. As
soon as the net reaches the surfaceof the water, the mimon the small bancas put out all their scarelights and assist
in scooping the catch into the catcher .boats.
The operation is made four to ten times per night depending on the.availability of fish sch~olsand a good
weather condition,
Two types of allegation were presented during the actual observation and interviews with fishermen of
Manila Bay regarding the operation of "pantukos". The Paranaque fishermen alleged that crude oil is hurled
onto the sea surface during the fishing operation and is thus destructive to fishery resources. On the other hand,
Bulacan fishermen who are "pantukos" operators deny the use of crude oil. It is this problem that has to be solved
by the fishermen themselves, agencies concerned with fishery resources and the municipalities comprising Manila
Bay where fishing is being operated.
2.5 Fakhing grounds, season and fish caught
The major fishing areas are the shallow waters of Manila Bay (Figure l), particularly the northern, eastern
and western parts with depths ranging from 4 to 15 fathoms. The peak season occurs from November to January
while the lean months are from February to May and October. No fishing operation takes place from June to S e p
tember. During this period, the fishermen use pushnets for catching small shrimps,
The major species of fish caught by "pantukos" are anchovies (65%), sardines (32Vo) and other pelagic
fishes (3%). The lengths of fish caught are 5 to 7 cm for anchovies, 7 to 12 centimeters for sardines and 12 to 20 cm
for mullet. The volume of catch varies from 200 kg to 2,000 kg per set.
2.6 Markets and sharing system
Upon hauling the catch, one of the small bancas immediately takes the fish to one of the following: Malabon
Fish Landing Center, Atlag Fish Landing Center and other landing centers very near their areas of operation.
Sharing is made after deducting all expenses in the following manner:
Net owner - 4 shares
Catcher Boats' owner - 6 shares
Masterfishermen - 3 shares
Assistant Masterfisherman - 2 shares
Fishermen on Board Catcher Boats - 1 share each
Small Bancas and fishermen - 3 sharedbanca
3. Source of conflict among the fishermen
The "pantukos" is one of the effective fishing gears being used by municipal fishermen in Manila Bay for
catching fingerlings of sardines and anchovies. Its operation is usually concentrated along the shallow waters of the
bay, particularly in the vicinities of Bulacan and Pampanga.
The coastal fisheries exploited by municipal fishermen are "open-access' in nature; that is, the resources
in the bay belong to the fishermen who harvest the catch. Fishermen of Bulacan not only fish for sardines and
anchovies in the northern and eastern part of Manila Bay during the months of.October to May but also shift their
gears to Paranaque or eastern waters of Manila Bay since they follow the migration of these species. Since there is
no ordinance imposed by any of the municipalities bordering the bay so that fishermen can fish all over. The seasonality of fish resources in the bay like sardines and anchovies, is partly affected by the monsoon which necessitates
a shift of operation from the northern portion to other areas within the bounds of Manila Bay.
Because of these factors, "pantukos" operators have to shift to the municipal waters of Paranaque, Rizal
during the period of October to May following the migration of anchovies and sardines. The shifting of thew fishermen towards other fishing areas causes over crowding and presents competition to other fishetmen operating other
gears such as gill nets, handline, and push net. This being the situation, small fishermen in Paranaque alleged that
the "pantukos" operators of Bulacan province are encroaching on their Fishing areas and using lighted crude oil
on the sea surface with the result that, due to keen competition from the "intruders", their income and catch have
been reduced tremendously.
4. Approach for the solution of the conflict
This problem was brought to the attention of the officer concerned. In effect, a field observation was made
on the operation of the "pantukos". While it is true that these operators shift their fishing operations to another
fishing area due to monsoon winds and migratory behavior of sardines and anchovies in the bay, the freedom of
access to a certain municipality is open to all until such time as an appropriate ordinance shall have been passed.
Due to pressures from the affected fishermen, the municipality concerned prohibited the operation of "pantukos"
in their waters to give way to their own fishermen and to reduce overfishing and overcrowding.
One problem which gives the Paranaque fishermen much competition is the efficiency of "pantukos" in
catching anchovies, sardines and mullets although many types of fishing gears are as efficient in catching these species
during their abundance. However, the "pantukos" operators can still fish outside the municipal waters which is
defined covering three nautical miles from the shoreline and beyond the 7-fathoms contour since anchovies and
sardines are still abundant in these waters. This conflict should be studied properly as it involves a common fishing
area being fished by adjacent provinces. Fishing in an overlapping jurisdiction of the municipal and open waters
should be given a definite solution to avoid arguments among the fishermen of Manila Bay.
In view of the over-exploitation of the surface fisheries in the Paranaque portion and the conflict between
the two groups of fishermen steps had to be initiated by the government. A management perspective to provide a
solution for reducing the conflict might be zonification or limitation of fishing in certain areas in Manila Bay.
Another recommended approach is to restrict new entry and reduce the amount of excess gear in the water so that
the fishery can recover. The imposition and enforcement on the "pantukos" for certain months and monitoring
of the fishing activities of the fishermen involved will likewise reduce overexploitation of sardines and anchovies in
the bay.
The alleged hurling of crude oil onto the water surface and its possible adverse effect on surface fisheries
requires careful study and monitoring to verify the veracity of the complaints of the affected fishermen since they
operate gillnets in the bay.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the following persons for the completion of this paper: Mr. Arsenio S. de Jesus (Chief of
the Technological Services Division); Mr. Eriberto A. Macatangay (Officer-in-Charge Fishing Boat Operations
Section); Ms. Elena A. Tabien (Typist) and Mr. Alan Lopez (Naval Architect). Thanks are also given to Assistant
Director Justo Montemayor for his encouragement and comments on the draft.
References
BFAR. Fisheries Statistics of the Philippines. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Arcadia Bldg., 860
1980-1984 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.
MACATANGAY, E.A. and J.O. DICKSON. Trip Report on the Operation of "Pantukos". Submitted to the
1973
Technological Services Divisbn, BFAR, Quezon City.
Figure 1. Map of Manila Bay and Fishing Areas of "PANTUKOS"
C
29 Fathoms t fms 1
I
2 fms
2 tms
1
I
Figure 2. Structural Design of the "PANTUKOS"
e0ivonlt.d wire
Swk
app.d
102
L b r empty can
br cr&
oil
Figure 3. Illustration of One (1) Scarelight (Waswas).