Part two.

The blame
San Antonio officials, forced to account for the blast fishing in their seas, instead blamed the Firearms and Explosives Unit in Camp Crame and the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authprity for permitting agricultural fertilizer dealers based in the nearby btown of Allen for the excessive supply of ammonium nitrate in the province. Ammonium nitrate, locally called bugas-bugas, is a resticted chemical, the transport of which has to be cleared by the FEU and the PFA, according to Efren Piczon, former provincial agriculturist. He said truckloads of the fertilizer coming from Manila were usually escorted by policmen to ensure it can only be used as intended--as fertilizer for mangoes and pineapple. The problem, Piczon said, is that supplying Samar with ammonium nitrate is questionable because there are no commercial mango or pinapple plantations anywhere in Samar. "So why should there be ammonium nitrate here?" asked Piczon.  In Allen, Norberto Gordo is the only fertilizer dealer with FPA license. He insisted that there were no shipments of ammonium nitrate to Samar. Farmers instead use ammonium sulfate as a rice fertilizer, he said.  another supplier, Mila Turla, was  also mentioned by town officials in San Antonio as the source of ammonium nitrate. But investigation in Allen and an Inquirer Visayas interview by telephone with her son Bong revealed that Turla was no longer in the fertilizer business. Gil Adora, a former assistant regional director for fisheries, said he received a report last June that the supply of ammonium nitrate was now coming from Cebu. Blast fishing has been widespread and accepted fishing technique in Samar for more than 30 years.
Traditional method
Adora said it might even be considered in some respects a "traditional" fishing method. Older fishermen said they learned about blast fishing after World War II when there was available supply or real dynamite. The relative ease and low cost needed to catch fish in large quantities by simply bombing the coral reefs has encouraged them to improvise. The type of explosive used in the San Bernadino Strait has now evolved from real dynamite in homemade fertilizer/kerosene bombs. Bombs are manufactured using glass or discarded mineral water plastic bottles. Bottles are filled with a 3:1 mixure of bugas-bugas and kerosene that has been "cooked" in large vats in the backyard. Stones are then added to make the bottles sink faster and a waterproof wick inserted through a plastic sealing cap. Although waterproof wicks are also restricted items, dynamite manufacturers buy them in the black market from the military or mining and contsruction firms, Piczon said. Fishers look for a school of fish with the use of native goggles or a mask. Dolphins, because of their size and nature, are generally spotted through lookouts from a group of three to four boats.
The plot
When a school of fish or dolphins is spotted, the fishers move their boat 5-10 meters from the projected place of impact. The wick is lighted with a smoldering cigarette or mosquito coil which helps control the burning speed os the wick. The bomb usually explodes in about five seconds. After the charge is exploded, nets are cast or men dive in to collect the fish or dolphins killed or stunned by the shock wave from the explosion. Although fishermen here still employ fee diving methods in collecting fish after a blast, they have shifted to better gear with the availablity of portable air compressors which are used for the collection of giant clams and in cyanide fishing for live reef fishes. Recently Collamar led the town council in passing an ordinance banning the practice of using portable compressors at night. Nighttime diving is usually associated with cyanide fishing. But Collamar lamented the lack of funds and support from the national government. The San Antonio municipal government does not even have a decent sea craft that can be used for patrol operations. The vice mayor requested for a motor engine from the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame but there has been no response yet. Collamar though has comitted to organize bantay dagat patrols to combat dynamite fishers. But patrols in an area as large as the San Bernadino need an enormousamount of manpower and monetary recourses. Several nongovernment organizations like the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management have suggested it would be cost-efficient to survey fish-landing sites for evidence of fish caught through blasting and prosecute those selling these fish. Unfortunately, fishery officials in Samar said this type of enforcement was rather difficult. Ppe Lutao, chief of the BFAR research anmd outreach station in Lavezares, Northern Samar, said that under the current system fishers sell their catch first to middlemen who then sell the fish at landing sites in Calbayog City or Catarman. Considering this, anti-blast fishing laws in Samar seem only theoretical at this point.

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