DA-BFAR STEPS UP DRIVE
AGAINST ILLEGAL FISHING
By Cindy Ferrer
Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — The campaign against illegal fishing in Iloilo province will be strengthened following the approval of the Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) No. 246-1.
In a media interview Monday, Provincial Administrator Raul Banias, who also heads the Iloilo Provincial Bantay Dagat Task Force (PBDTF), said Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) National Director Eduardo Gongona revised the fisheries order last July 3.
Under the order, there is now a provision declaring the mere possession of Danish Seine or Modified Danish Seine, locally-termed “hulbot-hulbot” or “buli-buli”, and/or any of its paraphernalia illegal and can be used as a prima facie evidence for violation.
(Seine is a method of fishing that employs a fishing net that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. … Two main types of seine net are deployed from seiners: purse seines and Danish seines. – Wikipedia)
A prima facie evidence denotes that a person may be presumed to be have committed an illegal act only by the mere fact of having a prohibited item as an evidence.
Banias said it has been their dilemma to apprehend fishing boats docking in the ports in Northern Iloilo that were found to have some gears for illegal fishing like Danish Seine or Modified Danish Seine.
Citing the old fisheries order, he said these fishing boats could only be apprehended during actual fishing.
“Now, mere possession (of Danish Seine or Modified Danish Seine) can already be a ground of apprehension and the penalties are very severe,” he said.
Banias said they have yet to conduct coordinating meeting with BFAR for the enforcement of the fisheries order.
So far, Banias said there is a minimal use of the said illegal fishing gears in the province, adding that most of the fishing boats that use this equipment are from Negros and Masbate.
But Banias said the Bantay Dagat Task Force personnel are relentlessly conducting their operations to minimize or eradicate illegal fishing, especially in Northern Iloilo. (PNA)
CAPTION: Apprehended boats engaged in illegal fishing in Masbate and Iloilo (File photos from public website)
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