By: Reyna Omictin

TUBIGON.-The local government of this town has delivered a strong message to illegal fishers that it meant business in going after their illegal activities. Mayor William R. Jao sounded the call after a team succeeded in tracking down illegal fishers who tried to spoil the municipality’s marine and aquatic resources. Mayor Jao ordered the destruction 130 pairs of compressors and other illegal fishing equipment confiscated by a seaborne patrol of the municipality last January 6. The basis of the seizure and destruction was Section 60 of Municipal Ordinance 2009-04-297, defined as the “Modified and Strenthening Coastal Resources Management Code of the Municipality of Tubigon, Bohol”. The law stated that “it shall be unlawful for any person, entities, organizations or corporations” to engage in illegal methods of fishing, such as the use of compressors, poisonous substances, electric rods, opening of a fish pen, the use of palakaya , and the like.

It may be recalled that Jao, during his first few days in office, promised to stop illegal fishing saying it was not fair since it harms the marine resources of the municipality. He added that the illegal activity also affects the livelihood of small scale fishers who are practicing the use of legal methods. True to his words in putting an end to illegal fishing, Mayor Jao, together with Vice Mayor Virgilio C. Fortich, Municipal Agriculturist Yolanda Labella, Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator (MPDC) and Municipal Administrator Engr. Noel C. Mendaña, strengthened the municipality’s seaborne patrol ( Bantay Dagat) by fully implementing an order to maximize their roving to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With the maximum effort exerted by the administration, and the extended monitoring of the seaborne patrol, about 600 illegal fishers were caught within the term of Mayor Jao, where their equipment confiscated and were given sanctions for their violations. Based on the data from the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO), most of the violators caught were from the neighboring towns, and some are even from the province of Cebu.

In an interview with Labella, she said, “we are the only municipality in the province to fully implement the 24/7 seaborne patrol, and we will try our best to sustain these efforts.” Labella also discussed the extent of the damage illegal fishing may produce, where she said that by using illegal compressors, the “offenders” go deep into the oceans using oxygen supplied by the compressor, search for rare types of fish species and would even dig into the rocks and corals, causing immense damage in the marine ecosystem. What’s worse, she added, was that most of the fishes being caught are breeding fishes with hundreds and even thousands of eggs inside them, limiting their reproductive capacity. “[They] tell me that the profit they earn in this way of fishing is lucrative and fast, but they are only viewing things in a short-term basis, not thinking about the long term results it may bring,” explaining more on the effect of illegal fishing.

Victor Boligao, agricultural technologist on fisheries of MAO, explained how the strengthened Coastal Resource Management (CRM) Code has addressed illegal fishing saying that with the additional provisions , the law enforcing bodies have found additional grounds to apprehend violators. He added that with the strong political will of the administration to fully implement CRM, the problem of illegal fishing is slowly being solved. Moreover, the licensing system embodied in the ordinance also set the mechanism in mitigating violations and encroachment of fishing vessels from other municipalities. Stated in the CRM are also the zoning of the municipal waters where each zones has their own lassification. Mayor Jao further expressed his satisfaction of the accomplishments the municipality has gained to address illegal fishing. He commended the efforts of the municipal agriculturist and MPDC/Municipal Administrator Engr. Mendaña for being firm in the campaign against illegal fishing.