WITH "CLOSURE" OF THE VISAYAN SEA: Call out to offer new livelihood to fishers

Bantay Dagat Program Director Elpidio " Jojo" dela Victoria has called on Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the mayors of three municipalities to provide an alternative livelihood for the more than 3,000 fishermen who will be displaced once the closure of the Visayan Sea will be implemented.

Dela Victoria said that some 3,000 fishermen will be displaced with the implementation of the petition that was filed by the Visayan Sea Squadron to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

He said that there is a need to provide alternative livelihood to these fishermen who are working for big commercial boats to sustain the needs of their families.

Aside from the displacement of these fishermen, Dela Victoria also said that the daily supply of fish in Pasil market will also be affected if the petition will be approved.

"Around 100,000 kilos of fish will be lost but this will also benefit the marine biodiversity of the Visayas because it will go back to its normal shape and will also benefit the marginal fishermen," he said.

He revealed that there are some 3,000 fishermen who are working with " d Zipper ", a firm that owns at least 115 commercial fishing boats in the Visayas. He said that these are those who are practicing destructive forms of fishing using big stones in their nets that can destroy corals in the sea.

"There is a need for these fishermen to have an alternative livelihood for them to survive because fishing is their only means of livelihood that is why I am calling Governor Gracia and the municipalities of Madridejos, Sta. Fe and Bantayan to provide alternative livelihood for them," he said.

He added that these fishermen, using at least 15 commercial fishing boats are fishing within the waters of the Island of Tangigue in Madridejos. They catch at least 25 up to 200 kilos of fish a day with their nets. The rest of the fishing boats are fishing within the waters of Masbate especially in the seas of Kawayan and Placer.

Earlier the Local Government Units in the Visayas and the Visayan Sea Squadron petitioned the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to declare the entire Visayan Sea an area closed to commercial and destructive forms of fishing.

Aside from that, they will also appeal to the Department of Environment and natural Resources to work for the declaration and listing of the Visayan Sea as a UNESCO world heritage site for marine biodiversity. - Jasmin R. Uy