The San Miguel Bay fishery is one of the more important fisheries of the Philippines, being a shallow productive body of water producing large catches of fish, shrimp and other crustaceans. Competition for access to and use of coastal fish resources in much of the tropics have noticeably increased in recent decades. Areas that traditionally have been the sole preserve of artisanal or small-scale fishermen using such time-tested techniques as hook and line, traps and gill-nets have come under increased pressure from modern gear types. Nowhere has the resulting competition for a limited resource been stronger than in coastal trawlable grounds where valuable shrimps are found.