MURO AMI

“Muro-ami” burst into the national consciousness because of the well-crafted movie that starred Cesar Montano. The film came too late though, since at the time it was shown the government had already banned the practice. During a discussion on the topic sponsored by the Alternative Law Group, one of the resource speakers, Mike Cusi, head of the Marine Biology Section of the University of San Carlos, even used excerpts of the movie to illustrate muro-ami’s destructive method of fishing. Among the participants of the discussion were young men who in the past were involved in muro-ami fishing. They confirmed as accurate the portion of the movie where swimmers, including children, destroyed corral beds using big stones to scare fishes and lead them to the nets. Two strong concerns brought about the controversy on muro-ami fishing. The first was the reported use of child labor. Not only were these children denied their schooling and stripped of their childhood, some of them also died because of the harsh environment in the high seas. The second concern was environmental destruction. The ecological imbalance resulted in ravaged corral beds, growth of parasitic algae and rapid reduction of fish population. While the negative effects of muro-ami fishing may have been drastically reduced due to the ban, as well as the effective monitoring by concerned agencies, a more destructive kind of fishing has emerged with the consent of the government. Generally similar to muro-ami, the alternative method used by the large-scale fishing companies is called “pa-aling.” Instead of using stones to drive fishes out of corral beds, the swimmers use tubes that release high-pressured air. This method is very effective in driving fishes out of their safe havens. Pa-aling has not been banned because children are not anymore required to join it and corrals are no longer destroyed. From the business point of view, the efficiency and effectiveness of pa-aling brings more profits to our big-time fish businessmen. From the government’s point of view, no laws are violated in pa-aling. Yet, environmentalists are up in arms once more against it. Pa-aling is just too efficient a method in catching fish. It catches all kinds of fish and other sea creatures indiscriminately. It is like a holocaust under the sea. Once fertile fishing grounds are identified, the pa-aling fishing expeditions repeatedly raid these areas, thereby, resulting in over-fishing. With too much over-fishing, we may end up with few fishes to catch and to eat in the near future.