ALABEL, Sarangani (March 8, 2007) – "Oh my! This guy is amazing... He is a very brave man!"
This was the reaction of marine biologist Giuseppe Chew to the story about Tito "Teteng" Ortizona who hunts tanguigue for livelihood in Sarangani Bay.
The story "Sarangani's tanguigue hunter keeps traditional ways" was dispatched Tuesday by Sarangani Information Office thru the internet.
"I encountered this fish underwater at Malapatan offshore reef that we declared as marine sanctuary," said Chew in an email yesterday.
Chew, who now lives in Canada, was erstwhile provincial agriculture officer.
The fish he met, he said, was about two meters long with "massive jaws."
"I could not forget until this day the stark tanguigue eyes as it approached me at the edge of the reef," Chew disclosed. "This fish was not afraid of divers."
Chew, who co-managed the Coastal Resource Management Program (CRMP) of the province, said he "just drew its basic features on my slate board because I could not identify it underwater."
He later found out it was tanguigue or "Spanish Mackerel or widely known here in North America as Kingfish."
Chew described Kingfish as a predator, meaning a hunter.
"It occupies the top strata of the ocean's food chain," Chew said. "Dapat mag-ingat si Manoy Teteng baka maging hunted siya."
His close encounter with tanguigue happened as his team of CRMP divers was conducting "resource assessment and survey."
He said the fish was "showing a sort of territorial behavior, as if defending his territory."
But for Ortizona, 41, his daily encounters with tanguigue were easy chores.
From sitio Sto. Nino, he sails to a payao (fish aggregating device), drops a wooden taguigue lure and waits in the water.
With a home-made speargun, he shoots the fish that come near the decoy in a manner he learned from several years of experience.
"I was awed by the courage of this old man hunting the formidable Kingfish," Chew said.
"I uttered a simple prayer for him today for him to be safe on his venture each day," Chew added.
Tanguigues are reef-associated species. They hunt fish at the edge of the reef or near shoals and off-shore reefs.
Survival of this species depends on good water quality and good coral cover plus responsible resource management. Chew said coral reefs need clean water to survive, so rivers have to be managed to control siltation. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
This was the reaction of marine biologist Giuseppe Chew to the story about Tito "Teteng" Ortizona who hunts tanguigue for livelihood in Sarangani Bay.
The story "Sarangani's tanguigue hunter keeps traditional ways" was dispatched Tuesday by Sarangani Information Office thru the internet.
"I encountered this fish underwater at Malapatan offshore reef that we declared as marine sanctuary," said Chew in an email yesterday.
Chew, who now lives in Canada, was erstwhile provincial agriculture officer.
The fish he met, he said, was about two meters long with "massive jaws."
"I could not forget until this day the stark tanguigue eyes as it approached me at the edge of the reef," Chew disclosed. "This fish was not afraid of divers."
Chew, who co-managed the Coastal Resource Management Program (CRMP) of the province, said he "just drew its basic features on my slate board because I could not identify it underwater."
He later found out it was tanguigue or "Spanish Mackerel or widely known here in North America as Kingfish."
Chew described Kingfish as a predator, meaning a hunter.
"It occupies the top strata of the ocean's food chain," Chew said. "Dapat mag-ingat si Manoy Teteng baka maging hunted siya."
His close encounter with tanguigue happened as his team of CRMP divers was conducting "resource assessment and survey."
He said the fish was "showing a sort of territorial behavior, as if defending his territory."
But for Ortizona, 41, his daily encounters with tanguigue were easy chores.
From sitio Sto. Nino, he sails to a payao (fish aggregating device), drops a wooden taguigue lure and waits in the water.
With a home-made speargun, he shoots the fish that come near the decoy in a manner he learned from several years of experience.
"I was awed by the courage of this old man hunting the formidable Kingfish," Chew said.
"I uttered a simple prayer for him today for him to be safe on his venture each day," Chew added.
Tanguigues are reef-associated species. They hunt fish at the edge of the reef or near shoals and off-shore reefs.
Survival of this species depends on good water quality and good coral cover plus responsible resource management. Chew said coral reefs need clean water to survive, so rivers have to be managed to control siltation. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
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