ILOILO – The provincial government seeks to improve the capabilities of the Iloilo Provincial Bantay Dagat Task Force to deter illegal fishing which remains a problem particularly in the northern waters of Iloilo.
Among others, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. plans to set up a Bantay Dagat command center in the northern coastal town of Concepcion under Mayor Raul Banias.
Banias used to oversee the operation of the task force as provincial administrator during the term of Defensor’s father, Arthur Sr., as governor.
The provincial government as a 2,000-square meter lot in Barangay Calamigan, Concpecion where the Bantay Dagat command center could be constructed.
Defensor said the Bantay Dagat must have the necessary equipment to deter illegal fishers.
But not only that.
“Dapat may disaster risk reduction management capabilities man sila,” said Defensor.
Last year the provincial government sought a radar from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration that it could use to monitor illegal activities or movements in the waters of Iloilo and the Visayan Sea.
The municipal waters of northern Iloilo towns – Carles, Balasan, Estancia, Batad, San Dionisio, Concepcion, Ajuy, Barotac Viejo, and Banate – are part of the marine resource-rich Visayan Sea.
Defensor previously expressed a plan to repair two rundown “floating assets” of the Bantay Dagat.
In 2019 Bantay Dagat only had two serviceable boats.
Northern Iloilo was an illegal fishing hotspot in Western Visayas, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) last year.
Most of the violations were the use of active gears and encroachment of municipal waters by commercial fishing vessels, it added.
Between 2016 to 2018, BFAR Region 6 filed 470 complaints against illegal fishing vessel operators. Four hundred were already resolved as of 2019.
BFAR is the agency under the Department of Agriculture responsible for the development, improvement, law enforcement, management, and conservation of Philippine fisheries and aquatic resources./PN
