The Peaceful Island of Cabgan

Cabgan island is located at Cabgan, Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur, on the waters of Panguil Bay. This island is inhabited by approximately 1,700 people, so it is obviously not overpopulated and the island is quite peaceful. The whole area is divided and surrounded by mixed fresh and salt waters, so riding a boat is the main transportation in this place. Since the area has more waters than land, the main source of income here is breeding seafoods like crabs, shrimps,and freshwater fishes like, tilapia, haloan, and Philippine's national fish, bangus or milkfish.

The place is so peaceful that we could only hear the sound of the water while flowing, the sound of paddle kissing the surface of the water while the boat is being rowed, and the leaves dancing while being blown by the mighty wind.

We reached this island by riding this green boat, and we made our way through the dike of every fishpond.

The main livelihood and source of income of the people here is having fishponds. They breed fishes, crabs, and shrimps, and they harvest it, and then sell it.

If it is not yet the harvest time, and they want fish for viand, they would just go fishing to their own fishpond or put a net and then harvest the net later on, and just like that, they will have a viand.

But this time was during the harvest. The fishpond water was drained during low tide, then if the water is already in a low level, we then started to catch fishes, crabs, and shrimp, or locally referred to as sikop. It was so fun, walking on the mud, catching fished, and jumping shrimps, while the our body's half were sunken in mud. There were crabs too, and I was glad I did not get bitten by it, or maybe I would surely cry.

I took a selfie while my body and face were all muddy because I know this moment will not happen gain. I just really love taking pictures to keep as memories.

These crabs and shrimps are now ready for importing to the mainland, as these are intended to be sold. The locals here are so skilled in tying the crabs successfully without getting bitten, and I was really so amazed by it.

My colleagues were having fun while bathing after the harvest. To get the mud of from their body, and they were having so much fun while doing stunts in the water and riding the bamboo raft.

I rode onto the bamboo raft too, but just to get on the other side. I did not swim along with them because I do not know how to swim, even in my old age. It was a bit challenging because I was standing while the bamboo raft was moving, because I cannot wet my clothes this time.

This bamboo raft was used in order to get to the other side, and for it to moved, one must go into the water and drag the raft all the way to the other side of the fishpond.

There were more than these, but I was not able to take photos of those giant tilapia as I was enjoying catching them, and I kept my phone away already. Yes, there were giants of this fish, which sizes are bigger than an average human adult palm.

This is how the fishponds in Cabgan look like during lowtide, and if during high tide, the water will sometimes overflow the dikes.

But overtime, the dikes are improved and they made it higher than before because fishes can get away if the water is too high.

Lastly, Cabgan is a great peaceful island where a seafood lover, an adventure-seeker, or a person who just want to find peace could have a great time.

I hope you enjoy our blog today, and I hope you'll have a wonderful day ahead.

P.S. The lead image is edited using Canva.