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Sam Beltran

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.
At the centre of their struggle is Scarborough Shoal, or Huangyan Island – a coral atoll and rich fishing ground known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc.

Claimed by both countries, the shoal lies about 124 nautical miles (230km) west of Zambales and has been under Beijing’s de facto control since a tense, months-long stand-off in 2012.
In 2016, a Hague-based arbitral tribunal ruled that Scarborough Shoal was a traditional fishing ground for several nations and declared that China had unlawfully prevented Filipinos from fishing there. The tribunal did not rule on sovereignty over the feature.
Beijing rejects the ruling as “illegal, null and void”, maintaining that the shoal is Chinese territory and that its coastguard patrols are legitimate exercises of sovereignty.
That maritime presence has intensified recently. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative recorded 933 Chinese coastguard ship-days – a unit of measurement equal to one vessel operating in an area for one full day – around Scarborough Shoal in the first half of 2026 alone, almost matching the 1,099 ship-days logged across the whole of 2025.
For Filipino crews, the patrols make reaching or remaining at the shoal risky. Fishermen report being chased, ordered away, targeted by water cannons or having their anchor lines cut.


Beijing says its coastguard acts lawfully within Chinese jurisdiction, defending the use of warnings and blockades against Philippine vessels it accuses of intruding into its waters.
Reduced access to the shoal is only one part of a wider economic crisis hitting Zambales fishing communities. Declining nearshore fish stocks, rising fuel prices, temporary no-sail zones for military exercises and coastal dredging are all taking a heavy toll.
“No fisherman can come near the shoal,” said Leonardo Cuaresma, head of the New Masinloc Fishermen’s Association, adding that Chinese ships patrolled the area “24/7”, forcing many Filipinos into crowded municipal waters where catches were smaller.
“Some go hook-and-line fishing here in municipal waters, but only catch two or three kilos, sometimes as much as five kilos, because almost all our municipal waters really have weak fish stocks now,” he said.
Rising fuel costs have made longer journeys harder to sustain. Marabe recalled how crews used to travel 80 to 100 nautical miles offshore in convoys, whereas most now opted for short, quick trips to save fuel.

Rough seas add another layer of difficulty. The southwest monsoon, locally known as habagat, has long forced fishermen to scale back trips, but Marabe said falling earnings were pushing some to take greater risks.
“We usually comply with guidelines on when we can and cannot fish … but we have to force ourselves and try for our families’ needs,” he said.
Local waters were also temporarily disrupted by Balikatan, the annual joint military exercises between the Philippines and the US, which included live-fire drills and temporary no-sail zones off Zambales.
Cuaresma said the fallout outlasted the exercises, which scared away fish and damaged sensitive coral ecosystems.
Dredging concerns
Fishermen are also worried by extensive river and estuarine dredging across Zambales. Government officials have defended sediment removal as part of flood control measures, saying the extracted sand generates provincial revenue and supplies infrastructure and land reclamation projects, including Manila Bay and the international airport in Bulacan, north of Manila.
But environmentalists and fishing communities warn that large-scale extraction could alter river and coastal ecosystems, particularly during extreme weather.
These concerns intensified after heavy rainfall and lahar – volcanic mudflows – caused severe flooding in parts of the province.
In August, the Zambales Ecological Network called for an investigation after torrential floods collapsed a bridge in San Marcelino town, cutting off the village of Santa Fe. The group questioned whether changes to the Santo Tomas sediment system caused by dredging had affected natural drainage patterns during extreme rainfall.
Marabe said dredging made the water murky. “Silt and everything ends up in the sea,” he said. “And that kills a lot of fish and marine life.”

Fernando Siringan, a professor of marine and coastal geology at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, said industrial noise and suspended sediment could disturb marine habitats and spawning grounds.
“If you have a boat that’s loud, and material gets suspended in the water, it’s the noise and the suspended material that directly impact the presence of fish,” Siringan said.
Dredging has also become politically contentious after reports surfaced last year alleging the involvement of Chinese companies.
Representative Leila de Lima sought a congressional inquiry into foreign contractors involved in the operations, including China Harbour Engineering Company, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Communications Construction Company.
Government officials have disputed allegations of Chinese involvement and rejected claims that Zambales sand was being used to build artificial islands in the South China Sea.
For Marabe, however, the more immediate concern is making fishing viable again.
He said longer-term support should include resources for small-scale fishermen, such as shared cold storage to preserve their catch, alongside greater protection for those trying to make a living at sea.
“We’re grateful for the five kilos of rice [from the government]. But that’s not what we’re truly after,” Marabe said. “We need protection as fishermen, to be allowed to go out to sea and not be left behind. That’s the freedom we want.”


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The Philippines

Filipino fishers count the cost of South China Sea dispute

Filipino fishing boats are seen moored at a port in Masinloc town, Zambales province, in 2022. Photo: AFP

An aerial view of Scarborough Shoal, or Huangyan Island, taken in July 8. Photo: Xinhua

Fishermen unload a catch in Zambales province, the Philippines, in 2016 after returning from fishing in Scarborough Shoal. Photo: Reuters

A reef-fishing vessel is seen anchored in Masinloc, Zambales province, after fishing near Scarborough Shoal in 2016. Photo: AFP

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A satellite image taken by Vantor on August 17 shows China’s construction work at Yagong Island. Photo: Vantor / AFP

A combination of handout satellite images released by Vantor on August 25 shows China’s construction work at Antelope Reef on December 13, 2025 (top) and August 11. Photo: Vantor / AFP

Fishermen collect fish caught in a net on Ly Son, Vietnam’s closest island to the disputed Paracel archipelago in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP

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Blocked from accessing Scarborough Shoal and hit by local dredging, Zambales fishermen say their weekly incomes have collapsed


Blocked from accessing Scarborough Shoal and hit by local dredging, Zambales fishermen say their weekly incomes have collapsed.


South China Sea

China

Filipino fishers count the cost of South China Sea dispute

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Blocked from accessing Scarborough Shoal and hit by local dredging, Zambales fishermen say their weekly incomes have collapsed

Blocked from accessing Scarborough Shoal and hit by local dredging, Zambales fishermen say their weekly incomes have collapsed