Matapos banatan ng mga fishermen at ng Congress ang Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources sa plano nitong mag import noong November ng 30,000 metric tons ng galunggong ngayong taon sa dahilang “closed fishing” ngayon nama’y binabatan siya ng Oceana sa kaniyang “Big Brother, Small Brother Partnership” (BBSBP) na ang pakay ay payagan ang commercial fishing vessels sa municipal waters para mangisda.
Anong klaseng brotherhood bai to? Ang malaking commercial vessels papasok sa coastal waters para agawin ang mga isda na dapat ay mahuli ng maliliit na fishermen.
Ano ba talaga ang nasaisip ng director ng BFAR na si Eduardo Gongona? Tila ata ay nagpapakatotoo siya sa surname niya, gunggung.
Sabi ng Oceana na ginawang basehan para sa BBSBP programang ito na “unlawful” ito at based sa “obsolete data” on fisheries. Halatang halata naman na pinapanigan nito ang malalaking fishers siguro kasi may pangako ang mga ito na compensation sa kaniya. Paano mo pa ba titingnan ito kundi para profits lang para sa kaniya, di ba.
Under the proposed program, small and medium commercial fishing vessels would be allowed to operate between 10.1 km and 15 km from the shoreline. Ang mga ito’y may capacity na hanggang 3.1 gross tons until 20 gross tons ang medium commercial fishing vessels naman ay may capacity ng 20.1 to 150 gross tons. Imagine mo yan. Papaano naman magkaka chance ang maliliit na fishers makahuli pa at kumita ng pampagkain ng pamilya.
Sa fisheries code bawal ang mga commercial vessels up to 15 kms from shoreline, which is exclusive to municipal fishers.
Bakit nga ba nakikialam ang BFAR sa municipal waters, when local governments ang may jurisdiction dito. Imbes tulungan ng BFAR ang mga LGU na sugpuin ang illegal commercial fishing, siya pa itong nagpapahintulot sa kanila, ani ni Oceana VP Atty. Gloria Estenzo-Ramos.
Dagdag pa ni Atty. Ramos: “The law is clear that municipal waters are reserved for the preferential use and access of artisanal fisherfolk who are among the poorest of Filipinos and have been thoroughly marginalized for decades.”
Ang dahilan raw bakit ito na conceptualize ng BFAR ay upang dagdagan ang supply ng isda sa merkado mula sa municipal waters, particularly the “catchable fish” in the 10.1 to 15 km area “since artisanal fishers are not capable of fishing in them.”
“This is a glaring acknowledgement of their omission and neglect in its primary function to enforce the provisions of the law without any fear or favor to any sector. To allow many of these CFVs, who are already illegally fishing inside municipal waters, is an attempt to legitimize an illegal act,” sabi ni Atty. Ramos.
Oceana wrote last month to Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar and Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, expressing their concern about BFAR’s proposed program.
In a statement, Eastern Visayas Regional Fisherfolk Director Martha Cadano questioned BFAR’s basis for the BBSBP, saying that municipal waters are already overfished, which was the reason for the crafting of the Fisheries Management Areas framework in 2019. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas.
“There are a lot of reasons why our small fishermen are still poor, one of which is the illegal operations of commercial fishing vessels in the 10.1 to 15 km municipal waters which is not allowed under the law,” Cadano said.