Filipino fishers count the cost of South China Sea dispute

For fishermen like Joey Marabe in the Philippine province of Zambales, the geopolitical contest playing out in the South China Sea can be measured in dwindling catches and shrinking incomes, as the presence of Chinese vessels around a contested shoal increasingly limits where they can work.

“It’s a huge drop. Before, a lot of us who could go out to Scarborough Shoal used to bring home around 15,000 pesos (US$238) a week, a comfortable amount for our families,” said Marabe, a resident of Masinloc town and provincial coordinator for the national fisherfolk federation Pamalakaya.

“But now, since we’ve been restricted from going out that far, and we’re limited to our own nearer waters … we’re down to 600 to 700 [pesos], struggling hard just for one day.”

The decline in earnings has coincided with rising fuel and operational costs, piling further pressure on fishermen who say they are being pushed into overcrowded waters closer to shore.