Ritual Practices in Fishing

Fishing has been the primary livelihood of the people in Cogtong, Candijay, Bohol, Philippines. The place is known for rich in seafood products, as a matter of fact, the said place was named after its biggest fish captured. Since then, people fishing for livelihood make sure they do rituals to catch plenty of fish as it gives the fishermen hope to survive in the changing world. The objectives of the study are to ascertain the different fishing ritual practices and how these rituals affect their fish production. It anchored by Anxiety Ritual theory states that people behavior in adapting rituals is based on irreducible anxiety. The researcher used Narrative Inquiry to assist the participant’s experience of the story through interviews. The data were collated, interpreted, and subjected to the framework analysis of Srivastava and Thomson (2009). It was found out that fishermen succeeded in this culture and tradition from ancestors. The richness in fishing will be mirrored how blessed this place in everything they have. It involves a better understanding to retain the rich history in terms of catch productivity. This would give the fishermen full responsibility in caring the old practices that would make them satisfied because of how the place being known. Transferring this to the new generation would be a great challenge even with the modern techniques in fishing and government support. Furthermore, commitment and support from the LGU, NGO and the university are highly needed for sustainable growth and technological advancement in their livelihood.

Keywords – Cogtong, Fishermen, Fishing, Practices, Ritual