FISH FOR THE CITY: URBAN POLITICAL ECOLOGIES OF LAGUNA LAKE AQUACULTURE A Dissertation by KRISTIAN KARLO CORDOVA SAGUIN Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Christian Brannstrom Committee Members, Norbert Dannhaeuser Wendy Jepson Kathleen O’Reilly Head of Department, Vatche Tchakerian December 2013 Major Subject: Geography Copyright 2013 Kristian Karlo Cordova Saguin ABSTRACT The dissertation tells the story of the production of socionatures through the development of aquaculture in Laguna Lake. The state introduced lake aquaculture to supplement fisherfolk livelihoods and improve fish production in part to provide nearby Metro Manila with its fish requirements. Half a century of aquaculture in the lake, however, has transformed ecologies, landscapes and livelihoods. Flows of fish to the city encounter socioecological contradictions in lake production and urban consumption. This dissertation examines these transformations and how state policies, livelihood activities and fish demands produce particular socionatures. Using the urban political ecology concept of urban metabolism, the dissertation frames the production of Laguna Lake socionatures as a city-lake dynamic. It employs qualitative and multi-sited ethnographic methods to follow Laguna Lake fish from sites of production to consumption and to identify actors, relations and practices that shape access to these flows of fish. The state embarked on projects aided by scientific institutions and foreign donors to enable aquaculture production through simplification of complex lake socioecological processes. These resulted in capitalist fishpen aquaculture expansion that transformed lake ecologies and village livelihoods. Capitalist aquaculture continues to confront nature’s materiality in water-based production, which provides constraints and opportunities for aquaculture expansion. Village producers, intermediaries and urban consumers also continually work with the materiality of nature to secure livelihood and sustenance benefits from fish as they flow from the lake to the city. However, the ii distribution of access to fish flows is uneven, with urban-based fishing corporations that own the largest fishpens and fish market brokers deriving the most benefit as a result of their political and economic power. Other commodity chain actors attempt to gain access to these fish flows through formal and illicit strategies. By following the flows of Laguna Lake fish, the dissertation weaves stories of the urban metabolism as producers, traders, consumers, laborers and the state transform and produce lake and urban socionatures. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to several people in the US and the Philippines who made this research possible. In College Station, I thank Christian Brannstrom, my advisor, for his unwavering support of this project from our initial discussions about Laguna Lake to the final stages of editing the manuscript. I am grateful for his guidance in the development of both my research project and my professional career. Wendy Jepson, Kathleen O’Reilly and Norbert Dannhaeuser similarly provided invaluable insights at various stages of the research. I thank Fiona Wilmot for the conversations, food and the road trips, which were crucial in the formation of the theoretical frameworks I developed in the dissertation. I received plenty of encouragement from my Texas A&M University Department of Geography cohort, especially from Souyeon Nam, Craig Hutton, Audrey Joslin and the Human-Environment Research Group. Four years in College Station were memorable thanks to the company of Jesselyn and Alnald Javier, Ligaya Rubas, Bjorn Santos, Jewel Capunitan, Kat Castillo, Aldrin Lugena, Monet Maguyon, Samae and JC Reyes, Rene Arazo, Fred Briones, Gally Veluz, Paul Narciso, Joan Hernandez, Madz Maglinao, and Roy and Faye Estrada. In Laguna Lake, I am grateful to Marcial Valdez, Baby Valdez, Carlos Paralejas and their families for their warmth, generosity and hospitality during my stay, even if 2012 was one of their toughest years. Lito Reyes, Virgilio Cerda, Rosita Ramirez and other barangay and municipal officials greatly facilitated the early stages of my field iv research. I thank the people of Navotas and Kalinawan for unstintingly sharing their time and stories with me. In Manila, Gil and Manny Prim helped me with my field research at the urban fish markets. Several members and officials of organizations and government agencies opened their doors and entertained my request for assistance. These include FIAN- Philippines (through Kate and Rodney), Pamalakaya (through Gerry Corpuz), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Laguna Lake Development Authority, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways, Bureau of Fisheries and the Navotas Fish Port Complex. I thank friends and colleagues at the University of the Philippines Department of Geography for their support: Darlene Gutierrez, Yany Lopez, Trina Listanco, Andre Ortega, Ony Martinez, Hazel Dizon, Louan Ocampo, Emman Garcia, Vangie Katigbak, Meliton Juanico, Trina Isorena, Marco Lagman, Cathy Liamzon, Pryor Placino and many others. I am also grateful to Justin and Lyn Fernandez for offering me a temporary home while I was doing fieldwork in Manila. I had the opportunity to study in the United States through a Fulbright grant. I thank Esmeralda Cunanan, Gigi Dizon, Marj Tolentino, Yolly Casas and the rest of the Philippine-American Educational Foundation Secretariat. The Texas A&M University Dissertation Writing Fellowship funded the writing stage of this research. I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Helma and Arsenio Saguin, and to my siblings, Kidjie and Kristine. Lastly, I thank Jake Soriano for his steadfast support, unpaid labor, and unfaltering patience. v NOMENCLATURE ADB Asian Development Bank BAS Bureau of Agricultural Statistics BFAR Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources GCC Global Commodity Chain GIFT Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia GMT Genetically Male Tilapia GPN Global Production Network GVC Global Value Chain LDBDP Laguna de Bay Development Plan LDBFDP Laguna de Bay Fishpen Development Plan LLDA Laguna Lake Development Authority NHCS Napindan Hydraulic Control Structure NSCB National Statistical Coordinating Board PFDA Philippine Fisheries Development Authority SEAFDEC Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center SOGREAH Societe Grenobloise d’Etudes et d’Application Hydrauliques UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UPE Urban Political Ecology ZOMAP Laguna de Bay Zoning and Management Plan vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………….. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………………… iv NOMENCLATURE ……………………………………………………………………. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………… vii LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………………………….. xi LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………………. xiii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………1 1.1 Fish, the lake and the city …………………………………………………. 1 1.2 Conceptual frameworks …………………………………………………... 5 1.2.1 Urban political ecology …………………………………………. 5 1.2.2 Urban metabolism ……………………………………………....14 1.2.3 Commodity flows ……………………………………………… 18 1.2.4 Materiality of nature …………………………………………….23 1.3 Research objectives and strategies ………………………………………. 26 1.3.1 Which socioecological transformations enable and result from aquaculture in Laguna Lake? …………………………………... 26 1.3.2 How does the materiality of nature shape aquaculture production in the lake and fish flows to the city? ………………28 1.3.3 Which social relations constitute fish flows from lake to city and how do actors benefit from these flows? …………………..30 1.4 Organization of the dissertation …………………………………………. 33 CHAPTER II STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODS ..……………………... 37 2.1 Situating the study area …………………………………………………. 37 2.1.1 Laguna Lake and Metro Manila ……………………………….. 37 2.1.2 Major actors and the study sites ……………………………….. 43 2.2 Methods …………………………………………………………………..45 2.2.1 Following the fish through multi-sited ethnographic methods … 45 2.2.2 Interviews ……………………………………………………… 46 2.2.3 Participant observation ………………………………………… 50 vii Page 2.2.4 Document collection and secondary data ……………………… 52 2.2.5 Data analysis …………………………………………………… 53 2.3 Situating the research ………………………………………………….... 53 CHAPTER III PRODUCING FISH COMMODITIES BY REWORKING LAKE SOCIONATURES ………………………………………………….. 58 3.1 Introducing and improving aquaculture: 1966 to 1982 …………………. 59 3.1.1 Introducing aquaculture ………………………………………... 59 3.1.2 Improving aquaculture …………………………………………. 66 3.2 Boom-and-bust aquaculture: 1983 to 1990 ……………………………... 77 3.2.1 Boom: capitalist aquaculture and fishpen sprawl …………….... 77 3.2.2 Conflicts: displacement, violence and resistance ……………… 79 3.2.3 Bust: crisis in pen aquaculture …………………………………. 81 3.3 Regulating aquaculture: 1983 to 2012 ………………………………….. 84 3.3.1 Governance by regulation ……………………………………... 84 3.3.2 Addressing displaced livelihoods …………………………….... 86 3.3.3 Controlling water and wastes …………………………………... 89 3.3.4 Shifts in governance ………………………………………….... 92 3.4. Summary ………………………………………………………………... 93 CHAPTER IV NATURE’S MATERIALITY AND AQUACULTURE’S DUAL TRAJECTORIES IN LAGUNA LAKE ……………………………. 97 4.1 Thinking and working with materiality …………………………………. 99 4.2 Dual trajectories of aquaculture: fishpens and fishcages ……………… 102 4.3 Materialities of production in a fluid environment …………………….