Groups hit Manila Bay 'fishing holiday'

MANILA, Philippines —  Environmental groups on Friday said that the fishing holiday staged by some traders and commercial fishing operators in Manila Bay only shows that businessmen would not want illegal fishing to end in the country.

The groups said that the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 as amended by Republic Act 10654 bans the operation of all commercial fishers within 15 kilometers of municipal waters, including the use of destructive and active fishing gears.

Last year, the Philippine government received a yellow card warning from the European Commission around the issue of Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Failure to address the problem would cost the country a whopping EU173 million worth of exports to the European markets.

The yellow card warning was lifted in April this year, but Joann Binondo, head of Partnership Program Towards Sustainable Tuna, said commercial fishing violations remain.

"The amendments in the code seeks to address IUU fishing yet commercial fishing operations continue to oppose and refuse to accept stiff penalties for IUU violations," Binondo said.

Vince Cinches, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines, said the protest of commercial fishing industry will only jeopardize the gains of the country in terms of complying with the EU standard.
 
"The rapid and much needed changes to the fisheries law was a key component of the lifting of the 'yellow card'," Cinches said.

He also lauded the efforts of the Aquino administration in addressing crisis of the fishing industry, citing that 10 out of 13 fishing grounds in the country are heavily exploited and nearly overfished.