Violations committed through large-scale commercial fishing have bigger adverse impact on attaining sustainable fishing, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said.
Lawyer Asis G. Perez, BFAR national director, said that even the small-scale fishermen recorded the most number of violations against the Philippine Fisheries Code nationwide still those into large-scale commercial fishing when consolidated will post higher risk to the marine resources.
Those small scale fishermen really committed the most number of violations but still it is undeniable that violations by large-scale commercial fishing vessels have bigger actual impact, he said in a speech Tuesday during the National Media Conference on Republic Act (RA) 10654 or an act to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) at the City Garden Suites, Ermita, Manila.
At present, Philippines has a total of 1.4 million small-scale fishermen that can be translated to some 150,000 small fishing vessels, much higher than with the 8,000 figure for the large-scale commercial vessels.
Most common violations committed against the newly-amended Philippine Fisheries Code or RA 8550 as amended by RA 10654 are poaching, using of explosives and commercial fishing without permit or license from the local government unit (LGU).
BFAR proposed a total of P6.6 billion budget for 2016 and is planning to allocate biggest bulk of the budget for the implementation of the RA 10654.
The BFAR primer said that the newly-amended law which its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) made effective on October 10, this year, salient features are it introduces new offenses such as unreported and unregulated fishing, addresses high seas fishing and fishing in other coastal states by Philippine flagged fishing vessels, emphasizes compliance with conventions to conserve and manage living marine resources such as United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and increases fines and penalties adopting administrative penalties.
Perez said that for the public to grasp the newly-amended law, communication strategies such as linking up with the mass media as bridge for the information to be made known to the public is crucial.
Effective information dissemination is very important, because study showed that about 70 percent of the violators are ignorant to the law, 20 percent are opportunistic criminals while the 10 percent are committed with intent, he said, adding that biggest bulk of the violators demographics can be addressed by media through information drive.
The ultimate goal and target outcome of this law is to give fisher folks better livelihood and fight poverty but of course strict implementation and law enforcement are just one of the factors, there should be a combination of effort to attain our very goal and that is to incorporate strategies of developmental, marketing and enforcement of the law in sustainable fishing, Perez added.
He underscored that as the Philippines is considered to be a maritime nation, then the country must act like one.
Meanwhile, a total of P6 million were allocated by the BFAR Davao this year for implementation of all the programs and projects against the IUUF.
BFAR Davao reported that there are two commercial fishing vessel administrative cases in violation of unauthorized fishing under Section 86 and Joint Administrative Order 02 and two municipal fishers for violation of fishing using poisonous and noxious substance (Lagtang) under Section 88.
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