The Business of Blast Fishing
A look into the industries that allow blast fishing to continue in the Philippines (Second of Two Parts)

By Mar Guidote, Coordinator, Coastal Law Enforcement Alliance in Region 7 (CLEAR-7), CRMP

Part 2. The nitrate trade

All forms of nitrates - the main ingredients in homemade explosives for fishing -- are regulated. From importation to domestic distribution, the law requires that they pass through a stringent process of inspection and monitoring. Calcium, sodium, potassium and ammonium - the nitrate forms in greatest commercial demand - may be legally used only as fertilizers. So how do these ingredients that are supposedly for farmers get into the fisherman's hands?

Blasting caps (in bundles) and nitrates (in bottles)
are used by small fishers in the Philippines to make
dynamites for fishing.

Nearly all nitrates sold in the Philippines are imported. Two lead agencies, the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), regulate the importation and distribution of the nitrates nationwide. Nitrates intended for use as fertilizers are regulated by both the FPA and PNP but nitrates meant for explosives are regulated solely by the PNP.

The FPA regulates all fertilizers whether finished, intermediate or raw. These fertilizers are specifically listed in the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines and the FPA's register of legal fertilizers. To legally bring in nitrate-based fertilizers, an importer must first acquire a license from the FPA. Once the product enters the country, movement and storage, from customs to the warehouse, are regulated and monitored by the PNP, which sets the standards for storage and distribution of nitrates to dealers. These are all covered by Executive Order No. 522.

Ammonium nitrate enters the country legally in commercial
or industrial quantities, for use primarily as fertilizer

Nitrates intended to be used as explosives can only be imported upon approval of the PNP Chief through the Director of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Division (PNP-FED). The PNP specifies the amount of nitrates that may be imported by individual importers at a given time. Under PNP regulations, an importer of explosives must submit to the PNP-FED a certification from the supplier, specifying cargo, quantity of cargo per item and the expected time of arrival in the Philippines. Then the importer must apply for permission to unload the substance from the vessel.

Importation itself is relatively easy, especially after the Central Bank and the Bureau of Customs relaxed regulations on the import of nitrates, primarily in response to a clamor from the mango industry, which uses potassium nitrates as flower inducer, and the mining and real estate sectors, which employ other nitrates in quarry operations. In the past, an endorsement from the FPA was required for the issuance of a Letter of Credit covering nitrate imports. The Central Bank has waived this requirement, and the Bureau of Customs has further facilitated importation by declaring a no-delay policy for nitrates entering Philippine ports.

That these nitrates get to the right persons, therefore, is now principally up to the PNP.

From ports to dealers: How nitrates are distributed
The distinction between imports of nitrates intended for explosives and imports of nitrates to be used as fertilizer is not very clear. They require two separate, and maybe even different, application processes - explosives imports with the PNP and fertilizer imports with the FPA - but, once they reach Philippine shores, they follow the same mode of distribution.

The nitrate cargo is unloaded into transshipment vans under close scrutiny of uniformed PNP personnel, who must escort it to its destination, where it must be stored in a warehouse with two separate locks. The owner keeps one key, while the PNP-FED representative holds the second key until this is turned over to the provincial PNP office that has operational jurisdiction
over the warehouse.

The PNP-FED is required to keep a roster of importers, the amount of nitrate imported and amount distributed. The roster of importers and amount imported may easily be generated by documentary inventory. It takes time to collect information on the amount distributed, however, because the monitoring of warehouses is done by the provincial PNP offices.

Monitoring is supposed to ensure that the nitrates are used strictly for the purpose they are intended, but it is being skirted successfully by a big underground market, sometimes using clandestine ports, that brazenly provides an easy and ready supply of nitrates to dynamite fishers. The Philippines, because of its topographical nature, has many public and private ports that are not adequately secured by police authorities. Naval intelligence reports point to some ports in northern Cebu, for example, as transshipment points of illegally imported nitrates from Russia.

Even the legal channels are not inviolable. Since imports are mostly in industrial quantities, the PNP finds it difficult to check that the quantity stated in the documents is the quantity being unloaded. Moreover, the no-delay policy imposed on nitrates at Philippine ports gives police checkers little time to check the items.

Apprehended dynamite fishers (seated) are presented
to media by police operatives

From dealers to end users: How nitrates end up in the fishers' hands
From the warehouse, dealers are allowed to market nitrates to registered buyers. Like the importers, buyers must be licensed as a blaster or an agricultural user. A blaster's license may be obtained from the PNP-FED; agricultural users can secure a permit to purchase nitrates from the Chief of Police (COP) of their town.

The law imposes no limit on the quantity that licensed blasters may buy because requirements vary with the scale of the project. Agricultural users, on the other hand, may purchase no more than 50 kg of nitrate at a time for use as fertilizer.

Monitoring stops when the nitrate is withdrawn from the dealer. Licensed blasters are compelled by law to comply with the terms of their permit, but authorities are not required to keep track of actual use of the nitrates by the end users. This is where the regulatory system is at its weakest.

The FPA has set stringent regulations on the acquisition and use of nitrates by mango contractors, and the PNP has even more stringent regulations governing licensed blasters. Ultimately, however, nitrate users are left to police themselves. It is not surprising then that, according to reports, the black market often gets its supply of nitrates from "end users", who acquire the nitrates legitimately then sell them on retail.

The most common modus operandi perpetrated by blaster-buyers is to deliberately declare nitrate quantity that exceeds the requirement of the project so that they can sell the surplus to the underground market. In the same manner, agricultural buyers sell part of the 50 kg of nitrates allowed them. In some cases, provincial PNP chiefs indiscriminately issue permits to purchase nitrates, not verifying whether the applicants are legitimate agricultural users or not.

One kilogram of ammonium nitrate is all it takes to make from 8-10 dynamites the size of a small soda bottle. This means that, with ammonium nitrate selling at Php1,800 per 50 kg and blasting caps at Php4.00 to Php5.00 apiece, a dynamite will cost less than Php10 to make. Too cheap, too readily available, and so utterly devastating.

Fish leave tell-tale signs of blast fishing, allowing authorities
to run after fishers and vendors who sell them.

The business of blast fishing - from importation down the supply chain to the fisher-user - is apparently lucrative enough for some people to risk legal apprehension, and for as long as there are sellers of cheap nitrates and blasting caps, there will be buyers among fishers who will continue to fashion, and use, their own explosives for fishing. Cutting off the supply of explosive materials to the black market is clearly more simply said than done, but it may be the only truly effective and most strategic answer to the vexed question of blast fishing.

How nitrates enter the underground market

1. Directly from overseas, through unguarded ports and private wharfs
2. From surpluses or quantities deliberately declared in excess of actual requirement of the project, sold to dealers when the product reaches the importers' warehouse
3. From surpluses of nitrates deliberately mis-declared during transshipment from port to warehouse
4. From either licensed blasters and agricultural users who sell nitrates to fishers or dealers of dynamite

1999 Nitrates Importation in the Philippines

Volume in Metric Tons
Source (Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority)

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