400 kilos of blasted fish seized

CEBU, Philippines- Over 400 kilograms of fish allegedly caught using dynamite were seized yesterday by the operatives of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-7 and the Cebu City Bantay Dagat Commission.

 BFAR-7 Assistant Regional Director Allan Poquita said blasted bigeye trevally, locally known as “mamsa,” weighing 400 kilograms were confiscated from two fishing boats- 4G Bothers and Che-Che.

 Poquita said BFAR-7 examiners confirmed that the fish were caught with the use of explosives.

 He said the boxes of fish were about to be sold at the Pasil Public Market in Cebu City. The fish reportedly came from Nocnucan, Talibon in Bohol.

 Poquita said they have yet to determine the value of the fish.

 The seized boats and boxes of mamsa were brought to the CCBDC property on Kawit Island, South Road Properties for proper disposition and documentation.

The BFAR office said it continues to receive reports of illegal fishing activities, like dynamite fishing in the region.

 However, Poquita earlier said incidents of dynamite fishing in the region are not that alarming this year compared to previous years.

 He said they have declared an all-out war against dynamite fishing and other illegal fishing practices considering that some fishing grounds in the region are already overfished.

 Blast fishing or dynamite fishing, Poquita said, is one of the most pervasive fishing techniques and is banned by most countries.

 It is the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection.

 According to fisheries studies, dynamite fishing has contributed to massive destruction of Southeast Asian coral reefs over the past 20 years. Large blasted areas are slow to recover because corals have difficulty establishing on loose or sandy substrate.

 Scientific studies show that reef can take more than a century to recover once the live coral cover has been destroyed.  (FREEMAN)