Spearfishing in the Philippines

[keithoz]

hi guys,

i read somewhere that spearfishing is actually illegal throughout the philippines? or is it only in certain areas?
can someone clarify this please?
jeez i only use a handspear to grab dinner sometimes so i don't wanna end up in gaol or having to bribe the local cops over this?!!
thanks

 

[wdaf]

Spearfishing in the Philippines is legal.
Everywhere except in sanctuaries.
Before you fish just ask the locals if it is a sanctuary since not all of them are marked.
I spearfish freediving only - no problem at all except with few foreign resort owners who think they can make their private laws.
Some say its forbidden with the use of scuba.
But nobody so far was able to show me any law stating that.

PS: I personally also dont spearfish in scuba divesites since the tourism depends on these certain spots.

 

[EARL1220i]

yah its true its only few spots on the island that is a sanctuary thats forbidden im a local that loves spearfish. and i hate say this some foriegn resorts owner who is so arogant just because they have the money and the place they make there own rules . its not illegal to spearfish in the phil.

 

[keithoz]

thx earl,

its great that you have clarified this for me
don't apologise for criticising arrogant or ignorant people of any nationality
i do it all the time! lol
ciao
keith

 

[benicio]

great i thought its really illegal. I've been planing to buy speargun later.
and dive the nearby resorts in Mactan.

 

[wdaf]

Spanish Mackerel
Caught in South Mindanao
Also saw some nice Doggies with around 30kg

 

[wdaf]

Report on the fish above.

I live since 4 years in the Philippines and love to do exploratory trips.
This time i went to the most southern part of the Philippines. It is the part where one gets travel advisory to stay out. It felt a bit strange to be in a 500.000 population town and seeing no foreigner at all for 3 days except in the resort where i stayed, but beside from that i was safe. At least i think so.
An American - ex peace corps - living there since 20 years was my contact person to some fisherman 100km outside of the bigger town.

It was a small town where everybody lives from the yellow fin tuna fishing.
My target for this first visit was a 5-10m deep shoal just some km off the mainland. About 500m by 150m wide.
We went there with one of the medium size 15m long outrigger boats they use for going months into the open pacific for tuna.
It is very simple boats with no navigation, no radio or other equipment used in modern boats.
I was spearing alone, but the boat crew even brought an additional small 2m long outrigger boat. So 1 guy was always watching and helping me.

It was a perfect site. many fish between 2 and 5 kg. I had a couple of dives where about 5 to 10 Dog tooth tunas of maybe 5 to 7 kg circled me in very close distance.
I was very selective an waited.
At the first day i started after lunch and spent only about 3 hours in the water.
Day 2 i started early and after about 5 hours i saw 2 big doggies cruising below me. I spotted them maybe 5 seconds too late, tried to chase after them, stopped and waited for them to turn - zero reaction.
Then after about 1 more hour i see a Spanish Mackerel cruising fast below me going from the reef straight into the blue. A beautiful silhouette from above - like the body of an air plane. Blue water here i come. I did about 5 to 7 dives in the blue, just a bit outside the bait barrier. And then he checked me out. Close, too close. So i shot from the hip, and i realised right away it was not a good shot. I had a breakaway setup with a small 8 liter buoy but no bungee, so i did not give the fish any pressure at all, but only 2 seconds later he ripped himself free. Dammit - 2 days of waiting for the right fish and then I loose him with a bad shot.

Upset i reload the gun and continue going back to the reef. After about 10 minutes i see something shiny in about 20m depth. i make a short duck dive and YES! there he is again. Floating and surrounded by jacks that want to eat him. So all i have to do is dive down, make the second shot into the barely moving fish and here we go. 21kg

On the way back my new mobile phone did a great job.
It got already dark so we started heading back to shore. All the captain had to do to bring us back was driving roughly north.
But doing this in darkness, with strong fog, nearly new moon and a brownout on the mainland was not so easy.
Every minute he used one of his safety matches to lighten the compass and correct the course.
Only in the Philippines.
So i was sitting then with the captain of the boat and we were watching the compass on my phone to get the right heading.
Came home safely and had a great fish dinner the next day with the crew and their families and some other people i don't have any clue why they were joining the dinner.

Next time i will try to go for some bigger doggies on the same reef or maybe even for one of the 60 to 80 kg yellow fin tunas the fisherman catch offshore.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Great catch and a great story. Would you like to enter it in the Hall of Fame?

Dave.

 

[wdaf]

yes, please.

 

[Old Man Dave]

There are some great new entries in the Hall of Fame. Check out the latest catches on the first page including our new featured catch, a 21kg Spanish mackerel caught by Wolfgang (DB member wdaf) who is living the dream in the Philippines. Also follow the latest UK catches and entries in the April Fish of the Month that made it into the HOF.

Want more info on a particular species then click on the hyperlink after the scientific name of each in the index of the HOF.

Want more info on the catch (eg to read Wolfgangs story) click on the hyperlink after the captors name in the index of the HOF.

Links to the Hall of Fame, the April Fish of the Month and the Fish of the Month discussion thread are all in the hyperlinks in my signature below. Just click and go.

Enjoy.

Dave.

 

[vamforce]

Hi Wolfgang
Very interesting reading indeed brought me back to about 2 years ago when I was leaving in Manila travelling to various destinations for work and line fishing.
Plan to be back to Manila end of May beginning of June for couple of weeks. Interested to do reconnaissance spearfishing trip for our guys living in NZ. Perhaps I can travel to your place for a few days or we can venture to PGFF base in St. Vicente (the most northern tip of Cagayan province). Never speared there but did lots of trolling from bankas: sailfish, mahis, wahoo usual catch during May-July when seas not to heavy. We normally fished about 1-2 km offshore only in a 100 m deep water. Don’t think that PGFF would be against if we do it before or after their annual competitions. I will check anyway with the commodore.
Cheers and safe diving
Vad

 

[wdaf]

Hi Vad,

sounds nice.
my experience so far: if one does spearing in a good line fishing place you need to do blue water hunting with a good technique of attracting the fish.
FADs, baiting, flashers, ...

Otherwise you will have zero catch.
Unless there are any reef structures close by with less than 30m depth.

what kind and size of fish do you get there with line fishing?

Wolfgang

 

[vamforce]

Normal catch would be for sail 25-35 kg, Wahoo 10-15 kg, mahi (dorado) 7-15 kg.
No pinnacles. Sent the chart by email: red line represents normal trolling pattern. Flashers can be used or trolling the bait without hook to bring fish to the surface. No idea about coastal reefs. Depth in meters.
The Susak Rk is a famous spot. Its about half nm from the coast but you need 1.5h by dbl engine banka travelling at 14kn to reach the spot.