ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BFAR-ARMM), for the seventh consecutive year, is imposing a three-month closed season for sardine fishing in the area.
Jerusalem Abdulahim, BFAR-ARMM Fisheries Regulatory and Law Enforcement Division chief, on Wednesday said in a statement that the fishing ban covered the Basilan Strait and the Sulu Sea.
Abdulahim said the annual fishing ban, which ran from December 1 to March 1, is implemented to give time for sardine or “tamban” to spawn.
Abdulahim said the ban also included the selling, buying and possessing of sardines caught within the conservation area.
He said the vessels of BFAR-ARMM would patrol the seas in the island provinces, specifically Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, to ensure compliance of the closed season for sardine fishing.
He said violators of the fishing ban would be penalized with confiscation of catch and gear, and an administrative fine equivalent to five times the value of the catch, or a penalty ranging from PhP50,000 for small-scale commercial fishing, to PhP5 million for large-scale commercial fishing as specified under Section 86 of the Republic Act 10654.
R. A 10654 prevents, deters and eliminates illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending R.A. 8550, otherwise known as “the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998,” and for other purposes.
Abdulahim said some of the fishing firms affected by the fishing ban had scheduled renovation of their ships during the period with fishing ship workers still being compensated.
ARMM has produced 1,311.9 metric tons of “tamban” in the third quarter of 2017 based on the data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). (/PNA)
