4 DAYS, 3 NIGHTS PER MONTH: Total fishing ban in Medellin As leaders launch town in 2011 as "marine and eco-adventure capital of the north"

CEBU, Philippines - The northern Cebu town of Medellin is implementing a total fishing ban for four days and three nights after each month’s new moon, the time when fishes are said to spawn.

Mayor Ricardo Ramirez said that they are now aggressive in their efforts to protect their town’s seawater resources because of their plan to launch the town in 2011 as the “marine adventure and eco-tourism capital of the north.”

Over the years, Medellin has been identified with vast lands planted with sugarcane and nothing else.

Because of that, Ramirez wants to “reinvent” the image of the town and make it a package of various tourism sites and activities mostly anchored on its being the only town in Cebu with long stretches of seawaters on the eastern and western side.

On top of their list is the newly discovered coral gardens they name “The Discovery Reef,” the protection and promotion of which compel the local administration to impose a total fishing ban so the fishes could breed.

The reef, with its colonies of soft and hard corals of different shapes and colors, stretches from Medellin’s eastern boundary with Bogo all the way to its boundary with Daanbantayan.

An ordinance on the fishing ban is in place, and Medellin already has eight pump boats and a speed boat for use in its anti-illegal fishing campaign.

Its local Bantay Dagat task force, assisted by policemen, camp out on a floating cottage at nights on both east and west coasts of the town to guard against illegal fishers who usually operate during night time. Ramirez himself leads the task force in their nightly operations.

The floating cottages, which serve as outposts of the local Bantay Dagat, is located on Medellin’s two marine sanctuaries wherein fishing is banned all year-long.

To complement the snorkeling and kayaking that the tourists could do in its marine sanctuaries, Medellin also built what it calls “The Watchtower,” a floating, three-storey structure several meters away from the shore. Visitors could rent the watchtower for exclusive parties for a minimal fee.

What used to be just rocks and cliffs along the eastern side of Barangay Tindog has also come alive with cottages and slides and other tourist amenities for the public. Called the “Hideaway,” the town just built a boardwalk that stretches half a kilometer to the sea.

“I noticed that there’s limited place in the beaches for the public despite the fact that Cebu is all beaches, as these have been bought mostly by private individuals. So we thought of opening this,” said Ramirez.

 Also, the town government plans to launch its Gibitngil island on its western coast as a site for rock climbing, and for adventurers to have a diving board anchored on a high rock.

On its mountain ranges in Barangay Caputatan Norte, the domestic tourism opened just weeks ago with the local government-operated zipline, which offers the public a view of the sugarcane plantations below and the seas while “flying” from one hill to the other. Ramirez also just days ago opened another ride, the “Tarzan Jump.”

Still on the works is the opening of the mangrove forests in the two-kilometer long Dagosongan River to tourists for kayaking and boating, as well as Medellin’s Dayhagon Canal, a man-made waterway dredged by the Americans in the 1900s.

Earlier, local economist Perry Fajardo was reported as saying that the trend of tourism now is no longer normal as it is picking up and is expected to strengthen next year.

 Fajardo, in an earlier news report, had said Cebu’s tourism industry is expected to drive the province’s economy. He had called on local government units to make tourism a big income generator starting next year and start investing on tourism-related facilities and infrastructure.   (FREEMAN NEWS)