OCEAN-CONSERVATION advocacy group Oceana Philippines backed the implementation of the Amended Fisheries Code, which requires fishing companies to install a vessel monitoring device in their fishing vessels.
The group said in a statement that “proper” vessel monitoring can save lives and make fishing in the Philippines more sustainable.
Oceana Philippines cited the case of the drowning of seven sailors when a Filipino merchant ship crashed into the USS Fitzgerald in the Sea of Japan on June 17.
The American destroyer turned off its Automated Identification System (AIS), making it difficult for the Filipino merchant ship to spot and avoid it.
On August 21 the USS John McCain crashed into a commercial tanker near Singapore, leaving 10 dead.
For safety and fisheries transparency, Oceana Philippines said all Philippine commercial fishing vessels must comply with the Amended Fisheries Code by installing AIS, or other vessel-monitoring measures (VMM) by 2020. Larger vessels having started AIS installation since 2015.
The European Union est imates that about 26 million metric tons of seafood—15 percent of global yields—are caught via illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The Philippines was issued a yellow card in June 2014 for previously failing to curb IUU fishing, serving to warn the country that unless it addressed IUU fishing, its seafood products would be banned in Europe, our biggest market for fish and fish products.
The Philippines acted swiftly by amending its antiquated Fisheries Code, with VMM identified as the “best” method to ensure that fishing vessels operate only in designated zones, enhancing transparency and traceability. VMM systems can use satellite, GSM or radio waves to plot the location and course of vessels.
Oceana, which is working to promote sustainable fisheries, is helping pilot-test VMM measures in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“We’re looking for ways to better implement our environmental and fisheries laws—so we welcome solutions offered by service providers, such as FAME [Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise Inc.] and other innovators,” Oceana Philippines Vice President Gloria Estenzo Ramos said.
Around 15 transponders were pilot tested in the Visayas’s Tañon Strait, Siquijor, Estancia in Iloilo, Negros Occidental, plus the waters of General Santos in Mindanao. These areas are among the top fishing grounds in the Philippines which comprise almost 10 percent of the country’s wild-fish catch, frequented by commercial fishers.
Over 50 commercial fishing vessels will be fitted out with the device before the year ends.
Fisheries law enforcer Jose Tajonera from Negros Occidental said they are using vessel monitoring to detect illegal and commercial fishers in their area. “Vessel monitoring will greatly help us find and deter illegal fishers as we patrol our municipal waters. Our home waters need to be protected as they give us the food and livelihood needed to survive.”
Image credits: Candeze Mongaya/Oceana