FISHERIES

The fisheries of the municipal waters of Donsol, Sorsogon is multi-species and multi-gear. Situated along the productive Ticao and Burias Passes, the catches from its coast consisting mainly of sprats, mackerels and scads are caught by a multiplicity of gears dominated by drift-gillnets and bottom-set gillnets of various sub-types. The estimated annual fishery production from Donsol municipal waters is 1350.89 metric tonnes. The table below lists the species and species groups exploited in the municipal waters of Donsol.

As of July 2004, there are 607 gear units distributed among six types and 13 specific gear forms. About 58% of the gears constitute two forms of gillnets (locally known as Patitig sa Gilid and Barangay which are bottom-set gillnet and drift gillnet, respectively). Nearly 32% are handlines and long-lines. The rest of the gears are seine, lift-nets and barrier and traps. In terms of gear count, Donsol municipal capture fisheries is largely based on its gillnet fishery.

As in gear count, Donsol capture fisheries is mainly a gillnet fishery in terms of contribution to production by gear type. The harvest alone from drift gillnet locally called Barangay contributes about 68.2% to the whole annual production. The two forms of gillnets (i.e., drift gillnet and bottom-set gillnet) account for almost 97.2% or 1312.94 metric tonnes of the total production. The remaining less than 3% of production is shared by the five other gear types.

Fishing period using the gears is close to eight months per year with a frequency of about 12 days every month. These values show a significant dependence to fishing as a major livelihood source, which strengthens the rationale for implementing fisheries management by concerned entities particularly the local government of Donsol.

The estimate of a grand catch rate from the inventory data is 9.18 kg/trip. More closely, catch rates are highest from bottom-set and drift gillnets and lowest from lift-nets. When translated to meeting the daily life requirement of a fisher’s family, an average daily gross fishing income of P213.43 is approximated. This is a little more than the minimum wage of P182 for the Bicol Region. However, the fisher takes home a lesser income because fishing expenses are still deducted from the gross revenue. Thus, it should be inadequate to meet the needs of a regular fisher family. While these values may be preliminary as results of a more detailed fishing economics study will be done, the situation does not diminish the fact that fishing in its municipal waters is not providing real profit for fishers.

The following issues on capture fisheries of the municipality were identified by local stakeholders which need to be given priority in management:

• Overfishing of commercial fish stocks
• Intrusion of commercial fishing vessels into the municipal waters
• Blast fishing and use of cyanide in compressor fishing
• Low fish population or fish biomass in the municipal waters
• Catching of gravid fish
• Improper solid wastes disposal where the wastes end up in the coastal areas
• Absence of fishers’ association to pursue fisheries management
• Absence of appropriate municipal fishery ordinance
• Lack of information and educational activities for resource management
• Inadequate action by line government agencies to address the problem of commercial vessels intrusion into municipal waters
• Low patrolling in the municipal waters of Donsol
• Connivance of certain local government officials with commercial fishers
• Continuously declining fish catch and very low income from fishing
• High population growth of communities in the coastal areas