Law Enforcement to Boost Aquatic Resources
Oceania Philippines praises the government’s efforts to enforce environmental laws to protect the Tañon Strait against devastating fishing operations.
Oceania Philippines VP Gloria Ramos advocated to perform the same management and protection of the Tañon Strait, the Philippines’ largest marine protected area to other fishing grounds around the country.
Ramos added that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the local government units (LGU’s) are coordinating with each other to implement the model to other seascapes in the Philippines’ specifically in the Visayan region. The system to be used in monitoring the seas are not only for tracking commercial vessels that could access the waters and the coastline but also for disaster-related events like the most common natural disaster, typhoon.
“Under the Fisheries Code, there is a need for fisheries management areas that are based on science and policies. And even before the code was amended, governors already signed an agreement to protect and defend the Visayan Sea,” she said.
The government continues on implementing the enforcement plan that provides mechanisms for protection on marine habitats, sustainable fisheries and reduction of illegal fishing. Ramos noted that the improvement in the Tañon Strait is just a small percentage as to the six percent drop of aquaculture in 2016 all the more reason to push for the firm execution of the system in other aquatic reservoir.
