Panguil Bay

The Panguil Bay and Mount Malindang

The Panguil Bay is a bay on the north coast of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It separates the provinces of Misamis Oriental by the province of Lanao del Norte; at the head of the bay it borders the province of Zamboanga del Sur. She is a Meeresausbuchtung in the southwest of the Bay of Iligan. On its coastline lie the Philippine cities Tangub City and Ozamis City. In the north of the bay, the mountains of Mount Malindang rises.

In the bay are extensive mudflats and large mangrove forests. On the island Sumalig a sanctuary for the saltwater crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus ) was set up by the local authorities. The population size and the migration of the animals, however, are poorly understood. The region around the bay has a tropical humid climate with no dry season; it applies to some heavy rainfall.

In the bay there are only a few coral reefs; they lie at the entrance of the bay in the maritime area of the municipalities Clarin and Maigo. They are known as the Hulaw - hulaw and Maigo reef; to both of the local authorities Marine Protected Areas have been established. Since the establishment of protection zones could be registered from 1991 to 1996 an increase in fish stocks. 1991 only 50 species from 22 genera and 1996 species from 32 genera already 160 have been registered.

The Panguil - bay is considered traditionally very fishy waters. The waters are characterized as turbid with visibility of less than one to five meters, but they are very nutritious. At the head of the bay there are numerous freshwater inflows and the hinterland of extensive swamps. Studies of the Mindanao State University from Naawan figured in 2005, catches in the Bay of 1660.54 tons / year; this suggests that several stocks may be overfished. The catches of fishermen were distributed to 40% on different species of fish, 35 % to 25 % on molluscs and crustaceans. The most important fish species that are fished commercially, the Leiognathus equulus, Vagamugil cunnesius, Johnius borneensis, Gerres filamentosus and Upeneus are sulphureus. In the crustaceans Penaeus indicus are the Scylla Scylla olivacea and tranquebarica. In the molluscs there are the types Meretrix meretrix, Katylesia hiantina, modiolus metcalfei and Psammotea elongate.