Fishing operators warned against unregistered operations

CEBU, Philippines - The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-7 is reminding unregistered commercial fishing vessels anew to legitimize their operations to help regulate fishing activities in high seas.

BFAR-7 regional director Andres Bojos said they have been moving around different provinces in the region to advise fishing vessel operators to legitimize their activities through the joint mobile registration and licensing project.

“Otherwise, they (fishing boats) will be classified under IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing,” he said.

An estimate of 80 fishing vessels are reportedly classified under IUU in the region, said Elvis Flores, officer-in-charge of Fisheries Regulatory and Law Enforcement Division of BFAR-7.

She clarified though that this number includes fishing vessels which are still on the process of complying with the requirements under the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and those which have not undergone any procedure for legitimizing their operation.

Through the implementation of the project, Flores assured they can manage the increasing number of fishing vessels in the region.

“Daghan na ang na-legitimize, pero adunay uban nga wala pa jud kay adunay requirements nga wala pa nila ma-comply, gihimo man na nga pre-condition sa BFAR nga kun dili sila makakuha og complete documents sa MARINA ug Philippine Coast Guard, dili namo lisensyahan ilang fishing boats,” Bojos said.

Bojos said their intervention aims to monitor activities of commercial fishing boats in the region.

“It is better to legitimize their operations rather than to apprehend them, that is our premise on implementing joint mobile registration,” he said.

Bojos said they hope to eliminate illegal fishing in the country after the European Union gave the Philippines the ‘yellow card,’ which is a warning for the country’s stakeholders to fight illegal fishing.  (FREEMAN)