From guns to fish: Pangasinan cops take fish examiners course

DAGUPAN CITY — It used to be that policemen in Pangasinan talk about guns — caliber .22, caliber .25, caliber .38, 380, 9 mm, 44 magnum, M16, M14, M60, AK47, howitzers, recoilless rifles, rockets.

Now, talk has shifted to scientific names of fish: stolepharus macrosoma (dilis or anchovy), decapterus macrosoma (galunggong or round scad) scatophagus argus (kitang or spade fish), caranx armatus (talakitok or cavalla), caesio caerulaureus (dalagang bukid or black tailed caesio), caranx crumenophthalmus (matang baka or big eyed scad), lutjanus sp (maya maya or snapper), cybium comerson (tanggigi or Spanish mackerel).

This was after policemen from the coastal towns of Pangasinan successfully finished a 10-day Fish Examiners’ Course Friday given by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

The extensive live-in training was held at the BFAR building here from Oct. 4 to 14.

Superintendent Rayland Malenab, 106th Provincial Mobile Group director, said that the course was relatively new to them but made them aware of their important role in fighting illegal fishing along the Lingayen Gulf.

Twenty-five policemen, including two from nearby Zambales, participated in this first-of-its kind course involving the Philippine National Police (PNP). If they pass the examination, they will become licensed fish examiners, giving them more teeth in implementing fishery laws, particularly those against dynamite or cyanide fishing.

One interesting field they were given exposure to was fish taxonomy and the cops had to memorize the scientific names of fish commonly caught illegally in the Gulf.

Andy Menguito, chief fish examiner of BFAR central office, patiently taught the policemen the basics of examining fish caught illegally as this is important in court proceedings.

He noted that six years ago, dynamite fishing was rampant in Alaminos City and had destroyed its marine resources and reduced the tourism industry along the Hundred Islands significantly.

But when Alaminos was chosen as one of the 100 coastal municipalities as beneficiary of the Fisheries Resource Management Project, a BFAR project assisted by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the situation changed totally.

"Alaminos City is now free from the strangehold of dynamite fishing because of the political will and honest resolve of Mayor Hernani Braganza to overcome this grim picture of the past," he added.