The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) permanently revoked the license of a commercial fishing vessel that had allegedly violated the Fisheries Code repeatedly by catching fish within forbidden municipal waters.
In a three-page ruling, BFAR ordered the permanent revocation of Commercial Fishing Vessel License GRNG-06701-07-17 issued to F/V Raizza after it violated Republic Act 10654, or the Amended Fisheries Code thrice.
Under the law, the country’s municipal waters are off limits to commercial fishing vessels and intruding the area would result in corresponding sanctions.
F/V Raizza was apprehended by BFAR Region 6 Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement (BFAR-FPLEG) last September 10 for fishing in the municipal waters of New Washington, Aklan, according to the ruling.
The ruling indicated that it was the third time that the commercial fishing vessel intruded into a municipal water, the first being on July 20, 2018, and the second on November 14, 2018.
During the October 7, 2019, initial conference for its latest violation, F/V Raizza owner Rizza M. Alcedo “manifested her intention to avail of settlement prior to the filing of an administrative complaint.”
Alcedo offered to settle the violation in the amount of P13,000 based on relevant penalties under existing laws and regulations.
BFAR noted that it was “inclined to accept the offer but the habituality of the offender must be addressed,” hence, resulting in additional sanctions on the erring commercial fishing vessel.
“The amount offered by the respondent-owner is well within the minimum settlement penalty imposed by law and the settlement is not contrary to public order and state policies on fisheries,” BFAR said in the ruling that was released to media on Thursday.
“However, given the propensity of the respondents to commit the same set of offenses, this committee is of the opinion that the settlement penalty is not a sufficient deterrent,” it added.
The ruling was signed by BFAR national director Eduardo B. Gongona, BFAR assistant directors Drusila Esther E. Bayate and Atty. Demosthenes R. Escoto.
National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (NFARMC) representatives Ferdinand Y. Lim and Felizardo C. Lim also signed the ruling.
Nongovernment organization Oceana welcomed the development and argued that the sanction is an “effective deterrence” against illegal commercial fishing in municipal waters.
Oceana pointed out that this is the first time in history that a commercial fishing vessel was stripped off of its license for violating the fisheries code.
“We welcome this breakthrough in the implementation of the law. The permanent revocation serves as an effective deterrence on illegal commercial fishing happening in municipal waters,” Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Oceana vice president said.
“Strong measures in transparency and enforcement are needed if we are to return the abundance of our waters,” Ramos added.
Ramos reiterated the group’s call for the government to fast-track the implementation of the vessel monitoring system (VMS) to further deter the intrusion of commercial vessels in municipal waters.
“We urge the BFAR to hasten the implementation of the vessel monitoring measures to deter the intrusion of commercial fishing vessel operators into the municipal waters. We have to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing to restore the deteriorating fisheries and marine resources, especially in the municipal waters,” she said.