Lamenting that the fisherfolks are among those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, Deputy Speaker and Cebu 3rd District Rep. Pablo John Garcia has sought to amend the country's 22-year old Fisheries Code.
Garcia said Congress should consider amending Section 18 of Republic Act No. 8550, otherwise known as the Fisheries Code of 1998 to assist the fishermen and their families in this time of distress and expand the possible area of operations of small and medium commercial fishing vessels.
“Amending the law to include an exception ensures that the various economic gains brought by fishing may be experienced by more local government units, fishers, and families nationwide,” Garcia said in filing House Bill No. 7853.
He noted that currently, small and medium commercial fishing vessels are only allowed to operate within “the 10.1 to 15 kilometre area from the shoreline in municipal waters.”
“As a consequence, this delimitation disenfranchises fishing operations in municipalities and cities that do not have municipal waters which extend far enough from their respective shorelines,” the House leader laments.
HB 7853 provides that in cases where the municipal waters of a municipality or city do not extend to at least 10.1 kilometers from the shoreline, small and medium commercial fishing vessels may still be given a permit to operate within such municipal waters as long as the following requirements are met:
- no commercial fishing in municipal waters with depth less than seven fathoms as certified by the appropriate agency;
- fishing activities utilizing methods and gears that are determined to be consistent with national policies set by the Department of Agriculture (DA);
- prior consultation, through public hearing, with the Municipal/City Fisheries Aquatic Resources Management Council (M/CFARMC) has been conducted; and
- the applicant vessel as well as the shipowner, employer, captain and crew have been certified by the appropriate agency as not having violated this Code, environmental laws and related laws.
“This pandemic has debilitated many industries and has left many workers destitute. All efforts must be exerted towards recovering from this crippling period of our nation’s history,” Garcia said.