July 17, 2018
Banner photo by Alex Hofford (alexhoffordphotography.com)
compressor diving, diving, overfishing, palawan, philippines, tuna
Pa'aling is perhaps the most dangerous method of fishing on earth. Compressor diving - where air is pumped through flimsy plastic hosepipes to divers under the surface - is common throughout the Coral Triangle, but Pa'aling is practised exclusively in the Philippines, predominantly around the island of Palawan in the western Philippines. The difference is in the number of divers and the method. Pa'aling sees scores of divers descending together amidst a tangle of breathing tubes and manoeuvring nets over huge shoals of fish, mostly skipjack tuna. Serious injuries and death are all too common. Usually four fishing boats are used, all equipped with rusty compressor engines and each carrying around 25 divers. There have been numerous reports of child labour connected to pa'aling fishing. Pa'aling is tolerated by the authorities, because it replaced an even more destructive fishing method known as muro-ami, where rocks attached to large nets are repeatedly smashed into coral reefs to scare fish out and into the waiting net. Photographer Alex Hofford is one of the rare few to have witnessed pa'aling firsthand as these stunning images demonstrate. www.alexhoffordphotography.com
Pa'aling is still practiced in some parts of the Philippines - up to 100 divers supported by four boats - will go down together, corralling fish - usually tuna - into huge nets. They breathe regular air pumped down from the surface by an old on board engine.
This diver is relatively lucky in that he has a wetsuit. Most pa'aling divers wear regular shirts and leggings and perhaps a balaclava. Rudimentary fins are carved out of wood and divers often wear homemade wooden goggles in the absence of a proper mask.
There are virtually no safety measures on pa'aling fishing vessels and hardly any real understanding of what causes the bends, so divers will often spend far too long at depth without taking safety stops on the way back up. These thin tubes are their only lifeline - but they can also be a death sentence if too many nitrogen bubbles build up in the blood stream. Thousands have bee crippled or killed.
Not only is Pa'aling dangerous for fishers, it is thought to decimate fish stocks and is a completely non-selective method. Yet it is preferable to muro-ami, which actively destroys reefs, so the Philippines government allows it as it is central to many people's livelihoods and a ban could cause massive displacement.
Cheap, thin plastic hose of the kind that is used to water gardens is the divers' only lifeline to the surface. The smallest tear or even kink in the hose can cause death.
Pa'aling fishers actively use the air bubbles to create a curtain which flushes fish out and into the waiting net.
Pa'aling usually takes place out in the open ocean, far from any kind of medical help. So if a diver succumbs to the bends, there is no hope for them.
Pa'aling fishers often find themselves within the confines of the net itself as the struggle to manoeuvre it around obstacles and over the fish. This can sometimes prove deadly.
Decades old engines like this rusty specimen are the only things keeping the divers alive, pumping air down from the surface.
Pa'aling often involves a number of boats with scores of divers on each, who together 'herd' fish into the waiting net.
Divers rarely have prooper mask and must rely on hand carved wooden goggles with regular glass fitted in them. They do not even have regulators - the hose must be gripped firmly between the lips whilst carrying out complicated and sometimes strenuous activities.
