Customs and Culture of the Phillippines by Gladys Zabilka

Author:Gladys Zabilka
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462913022
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Bamboo lasts longer in salt water so that a salambaw is in service for years with a minimum of repairs. In some localities of the Philippines the launching of a new salambaw is an occasion for a celebration, rounded off with christening rites and prayers. Greater will be the catch, they say, when many show up for the launching.

Salambaw fishing is mostly done after the rainy season since this flimsy structure cannot withstand sudden squalls or rain-swollen rivers. It is poled to a site generally about fifteen feet deep and makes ready. A necessary auxiliary is a banca (boat) to attach the net or to make emergency repairs to a damaged net. The site is carefully checked for possible net obstructions before dropping anchor.

More profitable fishing is done at night with the aid of a brightly illuminating kerosene filament lamp hung from the end of the boom above the net. The boom is lowered till the lamp is just hovering over the surface of the water and kept down for minutes while a lookout glares intently into the lighted area, where schools of fish or shrimps attracted by the light are clearly visible. On signal, the boom is raised, and the net shaken to bring down all the catch to the bottom of the net. It is then scooped out with a small net at the end of a long pole. A deft flick against the side of the net tosses some of the catch into the scoop. It is a neat trick, done over and over till the big net is cleared. The first catch usually becomes part of the crew's dinner, freshly cooked over a handy stove on the raft.

Fishing lasts all night. Should a chosen site prove less productive as hours elapse, the salambaw lifts anchor and is poled to a new location. It needs fisherman's sense to locate a better position.

Fish-ponds

The raising of fish in ponds is the most important of all fisheries industry in the Philippines. It is the most reliable source of fish supply in time of peace or war.

With the advantages of abundance of bamboo and rattan needed in the making of ponds and the presence of vast areas of marshy lands that can be utilized, the Philippine fishponds are among the best constructed and managed ponds anywhere.

A fishpond, when properly laid and managed, is a high food-producing area, more profitable than many agricultural lands. There is, besides, comparatively little risk in the business. Fishponds are generally constructed in swamp areas in coastal towns somehow connected with tidal rivers or the sea.

A fishpond operator buys his fish fry to stocking from concessionaires. These concessionaires take their catch along sandy coasts, in mouths of tidal creeks. The fry are sorted and counted through a tedious and elaborate method and placed by the thousands in earthenware jars. Any number from a half dozen to thirty are sold at one time, depending on the time of the year caught. Towns in Zambales where fry are caught are Botolan, Iba, Masinloe, Candelaria and Sta.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.