ILOILO CITY — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Western Visayas (BFAR-6) will strengthen its coordination with local government units and the police in the enforcement of the new fisheries administrative order.
In a media interview Tuesday afternoon, Carlito Delfin, Assistant Regional Director of BFAR-6, said they have already started implementing the Fisheries Administrative Order 246-1 (FAO 246-1), which bans the operation of Danish Seine and Modified Danish Seine, locally known as “hulbot-hulbot” starting July 29.
“Mere possession of paraphernalia like ton weight, gears and scarelines are considered total ban unlike before FAO 246 that we could only apprehend fishermen using these paraphernalia when they are caught in the act of fishing,” he said.
Initially, Delfin said they have conducted strategic planning with all provincial and city police directors in the region for the enforcement of the law.
He added that they also continuously conduct dialogues with LGUs to disseminate information about the law, as well as to ask help for the enforcement of the law since most of the violation happen in municipal waters.
“It is within their jurisdiction to help, so the LGUs are very vital because without them, we cannot fully implement or fully deter illegal fishing particularly Danish Seine,” he said.
Provincial Administrator Raul Banias said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) already issued Memorandum Circular No. 2018-59, requiring LGUs to be more proactive in monitoring and regulating fishery activities within their municipal waters.
He said the local chief executive will be held liable for non-compliance of the order.
From January 2017 until June this year, Delfin said that 39 Danish Seine operators had been arrested in the region and they have already pending criminal and administrative cases through the BFAR adjudication committee.
Most of these illegal fishers were nabbed in Northern Iloilo, Roxas City and parts of Negros Island, he said.
Lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr., a renowned environmentalist, appealed to fishermen using Danish Seine to stop the practice.
“We will shift from the mindless taking from the sea to mindful giving, restoring the natural wealth of Visayan Sea,” he said.
“The best form of law enforcement is when the law does not need to be enforced,” he added. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
