BFAR, Maritime Police sign letter-directive vs illegal fishing

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region I and the Philippine National Police Regional Maritime Unit I, have signed the letter-directive for a joint operational guidelines for intensified anti-illegal fishing campaign in the region.

The Joint Letter Directive 01-2017 was signed by Police Superintendent Baltazar Rivera, head of the PNP Regional Maritime Unit 1, and Nestor Domenden, BFAR Region I director.

The agencies will jointly strictly enforce the fishery, environmental and maritime laws, rules and regulations in the entire coastal areas/waters of the Ilocos Region.

They will coordinate with other member-agencies of RLECCi sub-committee on fishing and marine environmental protection and the local government units of the four provinces of Region I.

According to a situationer on the region’s coastal waters, overfishing is one of the major issues in Region 1, with 105 commercial fishing boats and 22,880 motorized bancas (below 3 gross tonnage) operating in the area.

Destructive and illegal fishing such as the use of explosives and chemicals are prevalent in municipal waters, resulting in the loss of coral reefs and other habitats.

Also, the waters’ quality and productivity are affected by pollution from domestic, industrial and aquaculture wastes and sediments from mine tailings, quarrying activities and erosion of agricultural lands.

Fisherfolk have expressed their concerns over the dwinling fish harvest, but many of them use illegal methods that cause the damage to the water resources.

“They use dynamites/explosives, chemical substances, active fishing gears and other destrucitve methods of fishing, destroying the coral reefs,” the situationer said.

To arrest the problem, the BFAR and Maritime Police will enforce fishery laws and go after the fishermen who are engaged in illegal fishing activities.

They will do this either jointly or independently or in close coordination with other concerned law enforcement and regulatory agencies in the area.

Among their other functions are the conduct of regular seaborne patrol operations and plug-down suppliers or sources of homemade explosives used in dynamite fishing, establish a watchlist on suspected blast fishers and  conduct foot patrol at the coastal areas.

They will conduct sustained market/fish landing denial operations with BFAR-trained fish examiners against selling and transporting illegally-caught fish.

The two agencies will jointly conduct investigations and gathering of pieces of evidence against fishery lawbreakers, and file appropriate criminal case in court, appearing in courts when needed. YOLANDA SOTELO