On Visayan Sea: 3-month fishing ban takes effect November 15

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture has announced a three-month fishing ban on the Visayan Sea starting November 15 to allow small pelagic fishes like sardines and mackerel to spawn.

Aside from Visayan Sea, the waters on the northeast of Palawan and the Zamboanga Peninsula are also off limits to fishing for the same period (three months) albeit Palawan will already start tomorrow, November 1.

Visayan Sea has been identified by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARD) as a major source of food, income, and livelihood for the 22 municipalities in the four provinces surrounding it, including Cebu.

However, overfishing and degradation have been threatening the productivity of the Visayan Sea for many years that paved the way for the establishment of closed season for the period November 15 to February 15 annually. The initiative is aimed at conserving sardines, mackerel, and herring that are found rich in this area.

During the closed fishing season, fish supply is expected to reduce. With this, DA will closely monitor the importation of fishes into the country to ensure that the local finishing industry is protected until the ban is lifted.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. alongside officers from the Bureau of Customs yesterday inspected several container vans loaded with frozen mackerel illegally imported from China at the Manila International Container Port.

Laurel personally witnessed the opening of three of the 21 container vans of frozen mackerel identified with Pacific Sealand Foods Corporation as the importer of the frozen fish.

The importer accordingly failed to produce a sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance when the shipment of an estimated 567 metric tons of mackerel were unloaded at the MICP.

“At current market prices, this frozen mackerel shipment is worth P178.5 million” said Sec. Tiu Laurel, who spent most of his working years in the fishing industry before joining DA last year.

Laurel said they issued an order earlier this year for the importation of fish to cover requirements for the closed season. The order allows the importation of 30,000 metric tons of pelagic fish species in the last quarter of 2024 to augment supply in view of the closed fishing season.

These imports must arrive in the country before January 15 next year while imports that will arrive months before the closed fishing season starts will only be allowed to be released to the market from October 1.

The order as per DA specified that 80 percent of the import volume would be allocated to registered importers from the commercial fishing sector, while the balance would go to fisheries associations and cooperatives.

A minimum import volume of 112 metric tons, equivalent to four containers, will be allocated to commercial importers, while the minimum import volume for fisheries associations and cooperatives will be 56 metric tons, or two containers.

Additional import volume will be determined based on an importer’s percentage share of fish landings in the last three years prior to the importation.

Importers must ensure that the fish supply they import comes from reputable sources and does not stem from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

“We issued the order earlier this year for the importation of fish to cover requirements for the closed season. This was done to monitor market supply and ensure imports won’t affect the income of the local fishing industry when the closed season ends,” the agriculture secretary stressed. —/FPL (FREEMAN)