BFAR steps up ban on ludong fishing

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – As part of its conservation efforts, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will impose a 45-day ban starting next week against catching ludong, the country’s most expensive fish, which can be found only in Cagayan Valley.

Arsenio Bañares, chief of BFAR’s regulatory and quarantine in the region, said fishery law enforcement teams are ready for deployment in known ludong fishing grounds in the region.

Aside from BFAR, the teams are composed of personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard, police, local government units as well as volunteers from the bureau’s Sagip Ludong Movement.

The ban, Bañares said, is in line with BFAR’s administrative circular declaring closed season on ludong fishing from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15 of every year.

BFAR said it is during this period when female ludongs start to migrate from the region’s headwaters in Isabela, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya toward the sea to spawn.

It is also during this period when fishermen take the opportunity to catch the fish, even before these could reach their destination, thereby depriving them of the chance to lay eggs and reproduce.

“The teams will conduct patrol, surveillance and market denial operations to ensure that fishers and buyers comply with the ban,” said Bañares.

The BFAR said among the areas covered by the ban is Cagayan River, including its tributaries and watersheds.

Known as the President’s fish or Pacific salmon, ludong’s other known habitats are the major rivers and watersheds in Abra.

Ludong sells for P5,000 a kilo.

“We appeal to our fishers and buyers or financers to comply with the regulation,” said Jovita Ayson, BFAR director for Cagayan Valley.

The ban, BFAR said, is covered under Fisheries Order No. 31, which prohibits buying, selling, transporting, exporting or possession of ludong. 

Penalties ranging from six months to eight years imprisonment and a fine of P6,000 to P80,000 await violators.