An international non-government organization, Oceana, calls on the Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and coastal local governments to intensify monitoring and surveillance of municipal waters and protect them from intrusion by commercial fishing vessels.
For the week of March 22-28, Karagatan Patrol, the online platform for reporting of illegal fishing established by Oceana and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, revealed that more than 500 that are possibly commercial fishing vessels were detected by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), a satellite-based instrument that detects night lights at sea, in some towns of Palawan, Masbate, Quezon, and Zamboanga.
“The figures showed that the threats to the ocean continue unabated with commercial fishing intrusion in the municipal waters still happening. Without the vessel monitoring technology in place, the violators cannot be tracked easily,” explained Ramos.
Under RA 10654, which became effective in February 2015, the BFAR must implement a vessel monitoring measure that involves installing a tracking device on all commercial fishing boats so it can monitor their movement.
With the delayed installation of a boat tracking device as a requirement for commercial fishing registration and renewal, Oceana, through karagatanpatrol.org, a free web-based application, continues to monitor commercial fishing vessels’ behavior using a satellite-based surveillance technology called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).
“The VIIRS shows only lights emitted by fishing boats at night. There are also fishing boats that fish at day time and are not captured by the technology, hence, it is not an alternative to vessel monitoring technology,” Ramos said.
| CITY, MUNICIPALITY | March 22-28, 2020 | Weekly average in 2019 |
| 1. Milagros, Masbate | 72 | 37 |
| 2. Tongkil, Sulu | 67 | 66 |
| 3. Cuyo, Palawan | 64 | 19 |
| 4. Zamboanga City | 60 | 66 |
| 5. San Jose, Occidental Mindoro | 59 | 11 |
| 6. Busuanga, Palawan | 53 | 5 |
| 7. Magsaysay, Palawan | 48 | 14 |
| 8. Calauag, Quezon | 40 | 21 |
| 9. Aroroy, Masbate | 33 | 11 |
| 10. Unisan, Quezon | 30 | 11 |
“We appreciate that local governments and enforcement agencies for diligently conducting at-sea inspections related to COVID-19 but we also call on them to continue to monitor our municipal waters for fishery violations. Heartened by local chief executives who continue to enforce our fisheries laws amid the crisis, we request more coastal local authorities to keep their fishery enforcers alert while closely watching over cases of COVID19 among their constituents. Our municipal waters provide food for our people including many marginalized sectors, more so at this time.” said Ramos.
