CEBU CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Fisheries Resource Protection Group (FRPG) and the PNP Maritime Group (PMG) intensified sea patrol operations in the Visayan Seas that led to the arrest of three dynamite fishers from Iloilo.
According to the BFAR’s Adjudication Committee that tit he violators were slapped with administrative fines and charged with a criminal case.
In BFAR7– FRPG report, the team narrated that while traversing the seawaters off Bantayan town in Cebu, the team heard an explosion and immediately went on to pursue the suspected fishing boat.
The team flagged down the fishing boat operators reportedly from Gigantes Sur in Carles town, Iloilo and later experts examined the fishes, which they believed were caught using explosives due to its external manifestations, the report said.
The Team confiscated their fish catch and fishing gears and impounded their fishing boat following the apprehension on December 5 in the Visayan Sea. The fish catch was turned over to the Bantayan Municipal Government for proper disposal.
On its administrative complaint, BFAR-7 cited violation in Section 92 of Republic Act (RA) 10654 or “An Act to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing that was amended to RA 8550 or “The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.
“The discovery in any fishing vessel of fish caught or killed with the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances, or by electricity shall constitute a prima facie presumption that the fisherfolk, operator, boat official or fish worker is fishing with the use thereof.” BFAR7 quoted Section 92 of the law.
BFAR7-FRPG noted that local authorities have also strengthened the seaborne patrol operations in a portion of the Visayan Seas since the three-month closed season began on November 15 this year.
Fishers are prohibited from catching or selling certain pelagic species, namely: sardines, herrings, and mackerels since the no fishing policy intends to allow these fishes to flourish in number and for their young to grow and increase their population to boost the fish production in the Visayas region.