Dynamite fishing back at Lagundi?

CEBU, Philippines - An explosion pierced the silence at Lagundi Reef in Talisay City at around seven yesterday morning.

Alfie Fernandez, a member of the Knight-Stewards of the Sea, Inc. and who lives near the marine sanctuary, said blasts have been a regular occurrence in the reef, now that the city pays no attention to it anymore.

Magam Ocariza, a buyer of fish, reportedly heard the blast while travelling along the Lagundi area.

Ocariza said he saw three boats and had a hunch these came from neighboring barangay Tangke.

Last Saturday, Fernandez and his group, who went diving in Lagundi, saw several dead fishes floating and, judging from the looks of the vertebrates, guessed these were dynamited.

Fernandez said his group reported the incident to the city’s Fishermen Sea and Ecological Care (Fiseca) for action only to be told sea wardens have no pump boats to use to chase erring fishermen.

In 2006, the city spent thousands to rehabilitate the Lagundi Reef, which was in tatters after years of dynamite fishing.

Floating guardhouses and marine buoys were also installed at the two-hectare reef, but are gone now.

The city still allocates P500,000 for the reef’s upkeep each year.

But as of press time, the sanctuary lacks buoys and guards, making it an easy target for fishermen. 

Fernandez said, based on his last dive, Lagundi is quickly deteriorating.

Talisay City officials will inspect the sanctuary in barangay Poblacion on Saturday, egged on by a letter from Vice President of Sea Knights Alfie Fernandez had sent the city mayor and Vice Mayor Romeo Villarante and councilor Antonio Bacaltos, chairman on the committee of environment, vis-à-vis dead fishes discovered at Lagundi last Saturday.

Fernandez claimed that he knew these were dynamited owing to his training as fish warden under the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Fernandez, who is a former volunteer keeper of Lagundi, said the area has a beautiful coral garden and has schools of fishes, and a nice diving site.

But it was destroyed after a Chinese cargo vessel ran aground in the area last 2009 because the buoys and markers they put up disappeard and had not been replaced before the incident happened.

He also said he had seen fishermen entering Lagundi to fish.

Fernandez criticized the Fishermen Sea and Ecological Care (FISECA) for failing to preserve Lagundi.

But  Villarante said that as of now FISECA has no head yet.

He said he will meet with the mayor to discuss the problem. (FREEMAN)