Oct. 1 Bohol photos

[Gilligan]

Just not a lot to see out there lately. Less and less over my years diving here. And now the local government's "environmental users fee" of 100 pesos per dive day has been re-instituted!

 

[Peter_C]

Just not a lot to see out there lately. Less and less over my years diving here.

Are you saying there are less and less fish??

 

[Gilligan]

Are you saying there are less and less fish??

Seems like that is the case with the exception of the aquarium size fish at about 10 to 20 foot depths and it's difficult to notice those numbers. There are no protected marine areas in Bohol. Everyplace is fished.

 

[Peter_C]

Are you finding the smaller say 5" and under fish going away? What about the mid size and larger than 12" fish?

Bummer, this is never what I want to hear...

Do the DM's have any comments? I am sure some of them have been diving and fishing the water for most of their lives.

 

[Gilligan]

Are you finding the smaller say 5" and under fish going away? What about the mid size and larger than 12" fish?

Bummer, this is never what I want to hear...

Do the DM's have any comments? I am sure some of them have been diving and fishing the water for most of their lives.

I see 5 and 6 inch fish for sale at the fish markets. Fish larger than 12 inches on the near shore dive sites is more a rarity than the norm. Balicasag Island still has some schools of larger fish but it too is fished.

Filipino DM's do not make negative comments about fishing and/or about the dive sites. ALL Filipinos eat fish. I have done entries at dive sites with men net fishing nearby. Some of the dive boat crews fish with lines while the divers are down. They make soup onboard with the aquarium size fish they catch.

I am not a marine biologist or scientist but my common sense and my observations tell me the dive sites here will be fished to extinction. How long is anyone's guess.

 

[supergaijin]

Good thing they don't eat nudibranchs!

It's a crying shame but the Cabilao/Bohol/eastern Cebu area has been nailed hard by uncontrolled fishing for 25+ years. Cabilao for example used to have schooling hammerheads. One Chinese fishing boat and one week later, they were all gone.

At this rate only a few of the 7000+ islands will remain for diving and then I'm sure the pirates will be waiting to pounce for the last few big fish in these areas as well. Luckily the Phils has great macro, but apart from a handful of spots like Malapascua, Pescador, Verde, Balicasag, Apo Isl and Tubbataha, big fish and especially sharks are all but non-existent above 50m

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[Titatom]

Seems like that is the case with the exception of the aquarium size fish at about 10 to 20 foot depths and it's difficult to notice those numbers. There are no protected marine areas in Bohol. Everyplace is fished.

This is so sad to hear

 

[Interceptor121]

Interesting that the DM say nothing. When there will be no fish left there won't be any divers and in total less tourists so less jobs

In the Philippines they do fish and eat pretty much anything but there have been successful stories of marine parks like APO island that has recovered a lot in a short time

When I was in Dauin the dive close to El Dorado beach, a marine park, very small size had the biggest groupers and barracuda of the whole set of 20 dive sites I experienced when I went there. The fishermen where laying their nets exactly on the line of the reserve...

 

[supergaijin]

The marine reserves only work with proper policing. Not many areas have the resources to pay for it.... despite the money brought in through sanctuary fees. The risk/benefit of poaching is often too attractive to stop the fishing, but hopefully it slows it down a bit.