BFAR: C. Valley losing P150 M fish annually due to poaching

By Charlie Lagasca

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya - – Cagayan Valley, one of the country’s major sources of saltwater fish, is losing about P150 million worth of fish annually due to poaching, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). 

These losses, BFAR said, are based on the estimated volume of fish caught by both local and foreign poachers in the country’s northern waters, especially in the fishing grounds of Batanes and Calayan in Cagayan along the West Philippine Sea as well as along the Pacific coastal towns in Isabela. 

Dr. Jovita Ayson, BFAR director for Cagayan Valley, said poaching and illegal fishing have been going on for years due to lack of patrol vessels to go after illegal fishers and poachers.

Ayson, however, expressed optimism that “happy days” for these illegal fishers and poachers are numbered with the scheduled deployment of seven small vessels to patrol the region’s northern and Pacific coastlines.

“For years illegal fishing and poaching have not been properly addressed due to lack of facilities… but with the presence of (these) new boats, the bureau is looking forward (to eradicating) illegal fishing,” she said.

The new patrol boats, including a 40-footer and a 30-footer, which are designed to withstand rough seas, will be manned by 20 BFAR personnel now undergoing special training.

“They are now working with our law enforcers like the Philippine National Police, Philippine Navy and Coast Guard to intensify the enforcement of our fishery laws,” Ayson said.

Earlier, the Navy said it would also install a radar system on the Batanes island of Batan to monitor the movements of vessels near the Taiwanese border.

“This will enable us to monitor movements of sea craft within the northern borders without the need to conduct costly sea patrols,” said Commander Macario Duque of the San Vicente naval operations based in the coastal town of Santa Ana in Cagayan.

These moves of BFAR and the Navy came in the wake of reports that illegal fishing and poaching, mostly by Taiwanese and Chinese nationals, still go unabated in the country’s northern territorial waters.

These foreign poachers, according to reports, usually conduct illegal fishing in the waters of Batanes or near the boundary of the island province’s Itbayat town and Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City.

“There have been reports of illegal fishing in many areas of Batanes and the Calayan group of islands… but due to lack of vessels to monitor them, illegal fishermen continue to feast on and exploit the resources of the region,” BFAR said.