14 illegal fishers fall in Santa Fe

CEBU, Philippines - Fourteen fishermen were arrested Wednesday morning for using the prohibited Danish seine method of fishing or “hulbot-hulbot” off Kinatarcan, Santa Fe town in Bantayan Island.

The joint seaborne patrol operation of San Remigio Bantay Dagat and “Guardian of the Seas,” an anti-illegal fishing group composed of fishermen in northern Cebu, also yielded 90 tubs of assorted fish amounting at least P200, 000, and three sharks believed to be endangered.

The seized tubs of fish were distributed to the fishermen in the islet, while the sharks measuring two to three feet were buried in Daanbantayan. Romel Linasan, San Remigio Bantay Dagat head, reported that they were tipped off of the two commercial fishing vessels engaged in illegal fishing activity.

He said the men including boat captains Donato Villaceran and Rogelio Forosuelo, both from Barangay Tabagak, Medellin, were caught in the act of using “hulbot-hulbot” method.

The arrested persons, however, were released because the jail facility in Santa Fe could not accommodate all of them, said PO3 Eric Ilustrisimo, in a separate phone interview.

But he said former Capitol security head Loy Anthony Madrigal, founder of the Guardian of the Seas, would be filing charges against the 40 persons for violations of the fisheries laws and provincial ordinance on sharks.

Danish seine method is carried out with the use of an active fishing gear similar to a small trawl net with very long warps. The boat hauls the long wire warps through a mechanical winch, sweeping the seafloor. The net around the fish and action of the warps herd the fish towards the central part of the net.

The Philippine Fisheries Code prohibits fishing with gear method that destroys coral reefs, seagrass beds, and other marine life habitat.

In 2013, BFAR issued Fisheries Administrative Order 246 banning Danish Seines fishing because it is deemed destructive to the sea bed, including coral reefs.  (FREEMAN)