It was 7:30 in the morning as I was walking back from the breakwater trail I noticed this lone fisherman with his fishing net and a plastic container on his back making circular runs casting his net in the shallow waters of the beach. I continued to observe his method of fishing. But I thought to myself there was nothing there except tiny silver fish less than a foot long and very few. Still he continued making his circular runs casting his fish net trapping the fish. He did this for more than an hour. When I left his container was still, almost empty. This made me feel so sad. I went back to our resort and told my friend what I saw and ask her WHY? Living in NY for more than half of my life made me naive to the everyday struggles of most Filipinos or at least get the real picture it. Thoughtfully observing this fisherman although I'm never always inquisitive of peoples lives he made me so curious. There's so many things I can do to ease the life of these people but what exactly am I doing.
The fisherman who usually brings fish to my friends' house came a few times but with no catch and according to him this has been happening for days now. This is the reality that most Filipino fisherman faces today. Over-fishing is just one of the threats that affect our ocean and the livelihoods of those small-scale fishermen today. For most of them fishing remains their only means of feeding their growing family. This is their only way of life and it is being threatened.