Last week, officials of a coastal barangay in Virac last week turned over to the police a quantity of chemical mixture used by blast fishers in illegally catching fish.
According to the report of the Virac police station, the village officials voluntarily turned over the white-colored granulated mixture at 2 PM of June 13, 2025.
The report did not state how the officials came upon the chemical or who owns it although photos taken by the police showed the mixture in a plastic container beside a black cellophane.
The suspected ingredient in dynamite fishing, which is still rampant in some areas of the Bicol region, will undergo examination by the PNP Explosives and Ordnance Division (EOD)/K9 Group and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) for proper identification and the filing of criminal charges if warranted.
In a press release, the Virac police said the incident is a result of the heightened campaign against illegal fishing within the capital town’s waters so as to protect and preserve its marine resources.
Police chief Lt. Col. Louie de la Peña expressed appreciation to the barangay officials and the local community for their continued cooperation with law enforcers against illegal activities.
Under Section 92 of Republic Act 10654, which amended RA 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, it is unlawful for any person to catch fish or any fishery species with the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substance such as sodium cyanide, which will kill, stupefy, disable or render unconscious fish or fishery species.
Those found liable of the actual use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances are punished with confiscation of catch, fishing gear, explosives and the noxious substances, or electrofishing devices, plus an administrative fine equivalent to five (5) times the value of the catch or a maximum of P30,000.00 for municipal fishing.
According to a research on destructive fishing in the Philippines conducted by Albaris Beteh Tahiluddin and Jurmin Hamad Sarri of the Mindanao State University-Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography, College of Fisheries, dynamite fishers commonly use of fertilizers like ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate, mixed with kerosene or gasoline.
The mixture is poured into an empty glass bottle, with a makeshift fuse stuck in it and sealed with the rubber part of a slipper.
Once the fuse is lit, the bottle is either thrown some distance at a school of fish or allowed to sink to the bottom using a heavy material as sinker.
Once it explodes, the fishermen dive and start collecting dead and stunned fishes using scoop nets and a compressor.
Dynamite fishing, however, destroys coral reefs, decimates reef habitats and breaks natural barriers that protect coastal areas against storm surges and erosion, aside from the damage it inflicts on the marine tourism industry, a fact that we, as well as the MSU researchers, all know.
*****
RETIREMENT PROBLEM. After retirement, an army colonel married a young 25-year-old woman.
Now he was spending less time with his friends. His concerned friends enquired if there was a problem.
“I’m eager to pass time with you all, but my young wife gets lonely when I’m away.”
His friends advised him: “Keep a young tenant at home, your wife will be happy in the company of a younger person.”
The colonel promptly acted on their advice and leased a room in his big house to a young tenant.
Now the friends were meeting more often. One day the friends jokingly asked, “How is your wife now?”
The colonel replied, “She is not lonely at all, she is very happy and in fact she is pregnant.”
The friends laughed, as they expected this.
“And how is the tenant?” they asked.
The colonel replied very soberly, “She is pregnant too!”