MINERVA BC NEWMAN
CEBU CITY -- The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR-7)-Central Visayas heightened its patrols in the Visayan Seas and apprehended a commercial fishing boat operator with the eight crew members from Victorias City, Negros Occidental on January 17 at 1:35 p.m. encroaching the municipal waters off Madridejos town in Bantayan Island, northern Cebu.
According to Josefina Flores, head of BFAR-7 Fisheries Management, Regulatory and Enforcement Division (FMRED) that commercial fishing operators are prohibited from fishing in the municipal waters based on Republic Act 10654 or An Act to Prevent, Deter, Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, which amended RA 8550 or The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.
Flores said that BFAR-7 had warned commercial
fishing boat operators not to encroach on municipal waters or they will have to
face the consequences if they continue to violate the fishery laws.
The operator's fish catch, which weighed about 40 kilograms was confiscated and was later turned over to the Madridejos Police Station for proper disposal while the fishing boat is now under the custody of BFAR-7 FRPG personnel.
The operator was charged with administrative and criminal cases for violating Republic Act 10654, Flores bared.
Flores explained that municipal fishers can venture in the seawaters 15 kilometers from the shoreline while commercial fishers are permitted 15 kilometers and beyond and not within the municipal waters.
According to BFAR-7 regional director Dr. Allan Poquita that the office continues to be on guard on fishery law enforcement amid the prevailing health crisis with the team from the bureau's Fishery Resource Protection Group (FRPG) with the Philippine National Police (PNP) Maritime Group personnel. (Photos: BFAR-7)
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