By Lilybeth Ison/Philippine News Agency
ROXAS CITY, Capiz — The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) on Monday capped off its month-long seaborne patrol operation in the Visayan Sea in a culmination ceremony at Culasi Port in Roxas City, Capiz.
The month-long operation resulted in the capture of 30 violators in Regions 5, 6, and 7 – which include 33 cities and towns from five provinces — along Visayan Sea. Violations include unauthorized fishing, unreported and unregulated fishing, use of active, destructive, and unlicensed gears in municipal waters, and employment of unlicensed fish workers.
The operation which started April 1 was carried out by a composite unit made up of personnel from the DA-BFAR law enforcement, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group.
Their mission was to safeguard and patrol the Visayan Sea and its adjacent waters against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
DA-BFAR utilized two 30-meter MCS Patrol Vessels and one 50-meter Multi-Mission Offshore Vessel during sea operations across the 14,000 square kilometer-vast Visayan Sea.
DA Undersecretary and BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona, in his speech, said these efforts are “part of the government’s pledge to achieve food security which can only happen when the seas are free from destructive activities.”
“The DA-BFAR role is to ensure that there is abundant supply of safe and affordable fish in every table if Filipino family. If we can maintain 60 percent supply of the country’s fish production and improve our aquaculture then we can attain food sustainability,” he stressed.
Gongona said that through intensified seaborne operations to enforce fishery laws, “we will be able to bring back sustainability and improve our fisheries production.”
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