As the three-month-long closed fishing season in the Visayan Sea for sardines, herring and mackerel began on November 15, protectors of the Tañon Strait vowed to intensify the campaign against illegal commercial fishing activities within the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS).
The closed fishing season in the Visayan Sea covers commercial fishing and will not affect the livelihood of small fishermen, Nathaniel Lucero, officer in charge of the Provincial Fisheries Office of Negros Oriental told reporters at a recent news conference.
Various stakeholders that include the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine National Police, Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), local government units (LGUs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) held the news conference on Wednesday to announce the fishing ban and highlight a ceremonial send-off of three patrol boats that will be deployed in the Visayan Sea and the Tañon Strait.
Oceana Philippines and Rare Philippines are stepping up efforts to help improve policy environment and “capacitate” communities within the Tañon Strait.
Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines, commended the efforts of the Protected Area Office and the Region 7 Office of the DENR, together with key enforcement agencies for their unwavering effort to protect and conserve the strait.
‘Serious business’
“FISHERIES enforcement is a serious business, especially since our next generations depend so much how well we protect our fisheries today,” Ramos said.
She said the positive outcomes of almost three years of Oceana’s collaboration with partner-government agencies and NGOs are “encouraging.”
With the recent designation of a special prosecutor for the Tañon Strait, Ramos is hopeful that violations will be dealt with properly.
Keeping tab
OCEANA is also pushing for the installation of the vessel-monitoring system and vessel-monitoring measures for large-scale and small-scale to medium-scale commercial fishing vessels, respectively, as mandated by the Amended Fisheries Code.
“This would help enforcers effectively track the movement and behavior of commercial fishing vessels within the protected area,” she added.
Negros Oriental Vice Gov. Mark Macias, concurrently the acting governor, expressed support behind the move to declare closed fishing season from November to February, the period of spawning of the three known commercially viable fish species that thrive in the Visayan Sea.
“Commercial fishing operators will be affected by the ban, but it doesn’t mean they have nowhere else to go. They would only have to go farther away out to fish. Small fishermen, on the other hand, will continue to enjoy fishing in the Visayan Sea and Tañon Strait,” he said.
He assured stakeholders of Tañon Strait of his support, especially in providing logistical backup in patrolling the vast ocean territory between the islands of Cebu and Negros.
Off-limits
MACIAS said he believes in the wisdom of declaring a closed fishing season, noting that previous experiences show that after the closed fishing season, fish stock in the Visayan Sea has dramatically increased.
“Even kids can fish near shores easily because there are plenty of fish to catch,” he noted.
During the three-month period covered, commercial fishing activities in the Visayan Sea, the second-largest fishing ground in the country, will be off-limits to commercial fishing vessels. The closed fishing season will end on February 15. This will give fish stocks the opportunity to breed and replenish the fishing ground for the next fishing season.
“They can always fish elsewhere during the closed fishing season,” Lucero added, as he lamented that commercial overfishing has severely caused the depletion of fish stocks in many areas in the country, including the Visayan Sea.
The closed fishing season is annually implemented to allow sardines, herring and mackerel to reproduce and replenish fishing grounds in the region.
Owing to the proximity of the Visayan Sea to the Tañon Strait, fishing vessels have been known to encroach on the northern part of the TSPS to catch fish, in violation of the Amended Fisheries Code and the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act, Prospero “Am” Lendio, the protected area superintendent of the TSPS said.
Send-off
ON Wednesday protectors of Tañon Strait witnessed the send-off of patrol boats to augment monitoring and law-enforcement activities in the southern portion of the Tañon Strait.
The patrol vessels will be deployed in the area to intensify the campaign against illegal-fishing activities in the Visayan Sea, including the Tañon Strait.
They are from the Navy, PCG and the BFAR.
“We are guarding both the northern and southern entrances to the Tañon Strait to demonstrate that commercial fishing is not welcome here,” Lendio said.
Other stakeholders have sent more vessels to prevent commercial fishing activities in the Visayan Sea and their possible encroachment in the Tañon Strait, including bantay-dagat volunteers from organizations of small fishermen from various towns within the TSPS.
While the Tañon Strait is off-limits to commercial fishing activities, small fishermen continue to enjoy the bountiful fish catch, Lendio said.
“A lot of them are thankful for the effort in Tañon Strait. Their daily catch has increased and there’s plenty for everybody,” he added.