Chatto to fishermen: Stop catching juvenile fish

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines  — Governor Edgar Chatto recently appealed to all fishermen to stop catching fish that are still juveniles, such as juvenile tulingan, locally known as "pirit," which are presently being caught and sold in Bohol markets.

The governor made this statement during the meeting of the fish technical working group that tackled the situation of the prices of fish in the market.

Lawyer Raul Barbarona, a stakeholder in the TWG, raised the issue of juvenile fish, saying he saw a lot of "pirit" sold at P100 per kilo in the market.

A juvenile fish is defined in the dictionary as "physiologically immature or underdeveloped fish."

Juvenile fish are being harvested, said the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources, with the use of fine mesh nets and other active fishing gears such as "basnig" and "ring net," but this practice is punishable by Republic Act 8550 or the Fishery Code of the Philippines.

Chatto, while urging consumers and the public to shy away from buying juvenile fish, said he would issue directives to fish wardens and law enforcers, including the members of the Coastal Law Enforcerment Councils, to monitor and carry out the law against catching juvenile fish species, including "kuyog" or "kujog" of siganid (danggit) species.

The TWG, in its study on the dynamics of the fish market prices, has found that high fish prices are the workings of the middlemen traders, playing "iring-iring (hocus pocus)" scheme in the markets.

This practice among middlemen has caused the "unreasonable hike" of prices even if there are no added costs, such as fuel and other expenses, on their part.

The TWG has still to conduct monitoring of fish prices in landing sites or fish ports and see the difference here with that in the market to serve as basis for deeper analysis.

Another item that the TWG is going to undertake is the proposed credit scheme to fishermen or fish traders as a possible way to control the rise in fish prices. The provincial government said that it is willing to finance the scheme if it is found viable.

Mayette Gasatan, president of the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), raised this matter to the TWG saying that most fishermen have been mired in debts.

A fisherman told The FREEMAN that many of them could not avoid going into loan sharks because the latter are their savior in times of need and emergencies. (FREEMAN)