The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) is now drafting a proposed legislation which aims to modernise the fishing industry in the country, much like the Jeepney Modernization Program.
The proposed Philippine Fishing Boats Modernization Act (PBFMA) has already received support from Mindoro Occidental Congresswoman Josephine Sato who promised to sponsor the bill in Congress.
The PBFMA, which has long been in the hatching stage in the DA-BFAR, was highlighted by the recent incident in the Recto Bank where a Philippine wooden fishing boat was damaged when it was rammed by a steel-hulled Chinese vessel on June 10.
Following the publication in the social media of the incident, a follower of this page suggested that the Philippines should modernise its fishing fleet to be able to compete with the modern fishing boats of neighbouring countries like China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan.
The F/B GEM VER 1, which was submerged in the water for hours before it was refloated, did not have any radars or transponders.
The Philippines has about 5,000 fishing boats with similar features and the DA-BFAR is just starting to install transponders on the fishing vessels so their movement could be tracked down by satellite under the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program.
Just like the Jeepney Modernization Program, the PFBMA proposes government incentives for fishing boat owners who would be willing to modernise their fleet.
This is expected to improve the efficiency of Philippine fishing boats and increase productivity in the fisheries sector.
The proposed bill is expected to be filed at the opening of the new Congress in July.
(Photos of the wooden Philippine fishing boat and the modern steel-hulled Japanese fishing boats were downloaded from public websites.)
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