The public clamor against the ban imposed by the fisheries bureau against the sale of pompano and salmon in wet markets is getting louder by the day.
Rep. Bernadette Herrera of Bagong Henerasyon partylist has joined the clamor to permanently lift the ban on selling salmon and pompano in wet markets, which the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said is contained in its existing regulations.
The ban and confiscation undertaken by BFAR last month drew public outrage with Sen. Raffy Tulfo described as "anti poor" and discriminatory.
"I ask the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and its policy council. There are public policy liability issues that COA must ascertain in this BFAR mess," she said.
The current suspension of the fisheries order could be merely a move to wait out the firestorm that order created, only to resume at a later date.
The fisheries order banning the sale of salmon, pompano, and other pricey fish in public markets is patently biased against fish vendors and consumers and clearly favors big businesses in the fish canning industry, despite the excuses BFAR has stated.
Antiquated na at (pre-millennium -1999 pa!) ang Administrative Order No. 195, hindi pa ba bilasa yan? What is clear now is that the AO 195 is anti-poor at these times. Dapat equal access for all.
The selling ban must be removed totally and permanently.
I am open to amending the Fisheries Code to make sure this salmon-pompano episode does not happen again to fish vendors and consumers and involving other kinds of fish and seafood.
It so happens that there are annual fishing bans in place over different seas meant to allow fish to repopulate during the months from November to March. The solutions to the resulting fish supply limitations, as some of my fellow lawmakers have suggested, are more inland fish farms and hatcheries.
Instead of banning the sale of salmon and pompano in public markets, BFAR should order these big fish canning companies to build their own inland fish farms and hatcheries. This way, these big firms have their own supply instead of taking fish away from fish vendors and consumers.
Tags: #BFAR, #BHPartylist, #antiquatedorder, #discriminatory