Fish exporters back drive vs illegal fishing

In a bid to enhance the effectiveness of policy initiatives to prevent illegal fishing and promote the viability of the fishing industry, six of the country’s largest fish traders and exporters have banded together into an industry association called Marine Resources Industry Organization (MARINO) Inc.

Formally registered last Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-stock and non-profit association, MARINO was incorporated by Milagros C. Vy of Kenneth Aquamarine Products Inc., Ching Sanchez of Chen Kao Marine Products Inc., Lilibeth S. Wong of Cross Island Trading, Jocelyn F. de Leon of Wan Mei Marine Exports, Salome F. Chan of Fordelon Seafood Products and Virginia C. Lim of Cibeles Marine Products Corp., all Metro Manila-based major traders and exporters of fresh fish and live fish products sourced out from the Palawan seas and other Philippine waters.

The live fish industry here has been thriving, with the growing demand for live fish from the Philippines in Asia where the country’s nearest competitor is Australia.

Vy, who was elected president of the association, said MARINO will actively support and closely coordinate with the various government agencies and non-government organizations (NGO’s) involved in efforts to sustain industry growth and in the nationwide campaign against any form of illegal fishing.

She said MARINO is committed to promote the traditional hook-and-line-and other non-destructive methods of fishing, and at the same time will undertake measures to help push the drive against the use of cyanide in any kind of fishing, especially for live and fresh fish products from the waters off Palawan where the organization has pledged to support the recently-launched movement for a cyanide-free fishing industry.

Citing published reports that only about one-third of Palawan’s 9,800-square km. reef area remains in good condition because of the ill effects of illegal fishing, MARINO-member companies have also committed their all-out support to the regulatory functions and industry-oriented developmental agenda of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), a quasi-judicial and administrative body that manages the strategic environmental program to protect, conserve and develop Palawan’s marine resources.

Even as they advocate transparency in the conduct of the cyanide detection testing of the live fish they procure from the Palawan fisher folk, the MARINO-member companies, being among the country’s leading fish traders and exporters, also pledged their full cooperation in policing their own ranks and voluntarily imposing a limit on their procurements, subject to the supervision of the BFAR and PCSD.