Cebu City seas now exclusive for locals

CEBU, Philippines - Fishermen who are not residents of Cebu City should refrain from operating within the city’s seawaters, otherwise, they will be apprehended and will be slapped with fines.

Cebu City Bantay Dagat project director Ranulfo Sebusa said even fishers who use ordinary fishing nets are not allowed to operate in the seawaters of Cebu City if they are residents of other towns and cities.

“Dakpon g’yud namo sila kay mao man kini ang gilatid sa balaud. Protehean nato ang mga mangingisda nga taga dakbayan sa Sugbo,” Sebusa told the reporters at the City Hall.

Section 2 (d) of Republic Act 8550 or the Fishery Code of the Philippines explains that the law is aimed “to protect the rights of fisherfolk, especially of the local communities with priority to municipal fisherfolk, in the preferential use of the municipal waters.”

The law further states that such preferential use shall be based on, but not limited to, “Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) or Total Allowable Catch (TAC) on the basis of resources and ecological conditions.”

Where two municipalities are situated on opposite shores that there is less than 30 kilometers of marine waters between them, the line shall be equally distant from the opposite shores of the respective municipalities.

The duly registered fisherfolk organizations or cooperatives shall have preference in grant of fishery rights by the Municipal or City Council or the special agencies vested with jurisdiction.

The local government units shall maintain a record of municipal fisherfolks for the purpose of “determining priorities among them or limiting entry into the municipal waters and of monitoring fishing activities.”

Such list shall be updated annually or as may be necessary and shall be posted in barangay halls or other strategic locations where it shall be open to public inspection for the purpose of validating the correctness and completeness of the list.

Some of the marginal fisherfolks in Cebu City have earlier complained that Bantay Dagat members failed to stop the commercial fishing vessels that usually operate in the city’s territorial seawaters during nighttime.

Sebusa, who used to be assigned with the PNP Maritime District-7 before his retirement a few years ago, assured to have an intensified campaign against illegal fishers. – (FREEMAN)