ILOILO City – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Western Visayas has reiterated its call for the public to support the closed season implemented in the Visayan Sea.
“We need to keep watch of the Visayan Sea because at the end of the day when there are plenty of fishes, it is our fisherfolk who could benefit,” BFAR Region 6 director Remia Aparri said.
According to Aparri, the public is aware of the three-month closed season starting Nov. 15 every year.
But she said that there must be a continuous intervention to sustain the effort, saying the closed season is critical to the population of the three species.
Fisheries Administrative Order 167-3 (2013) prohibits the catching, selling and marketing of sardines, herring and mackerel species.
Aparri admitted that there remain some fishermen, who continue to disregard the law, but said the current public awareness is different as compared with the previous years.
“Right now, we are embarking on a soft approach, touching the hearts of the fisherfolk through a jingle, calling on them to let the Visayan Sea take a rest starting Nov. 16, 2019 to Feb. 15, 2020,” she added.
As the closed season is entering its second month, Aparri assured that the region does not experience any shortage of fish stocks because Western Visayas “is also rich in aquaculture products that come from fishponds”.
“Visayan Sea is a multi-sea species; there are other species that can be caught in the Visayan Sea,” she said.
The areas covered by the closed season include Barotac Nuevo, Anilao, Banate, Barotac Viejo, Ajuy, Concepcion, San Dionisio, Batad, Estancia, Balasan, and Carles in Northern Iloilo; Roxas City, Pilar, Pontevedra, President Roxas, and Panay in Capiz; and Northern Negros covering EB Magalona, Victorias City, Manapla, Sagay City, Cadiz City, and Escalante City.
Only last month, the BFAR also gathered governors and local chief executives of municipalities and provinces covered by the Visayan Sea for the operationalization of the Fisheries Management Area in the Visayan Sea.
FMA 11, which was created through Administrative Order 263, provides for the reference point and harvest control measures or actions for sardines and blue swimming crabs and commodities. (With a report from PNA/PN)
