Fishery and aquatic resources will be better protected under amended Fisheries Code, says Villar

Sen. Cynthia Villar today said the proposed amendments to the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 seeks to put in place measures that will conserve, protect and enable sustained management of the country's fishery and aquatic resources.

In her sponsorship speech on Senate Bill 2414 under Committee Report No. 76 or the bill strengthening the regulatory and enforcement functions of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Villar said there is an urgent need to maintain a good balance between the requirements for increased production against the need to conserve and protect our resources for long-term sustainability.

"We need a strong fisheries law, including a comprehensive national plan of action to, among others, manage fishing capacity as well as the implementation of international code of conduct for responsible fisheries," Villar said.

Under the proposed law, penalties against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing or IUUF, are intensified. Penalties from these offenses will be collected to create the Fisheries Management Fund, where 25 percent will be allocated to BFAR for law enforcement and 75 percent will be allotted to provide assistance to poor fisherfolks.

Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said "this substitute bill aims to level the fishing legislation at par with other countries, especially with regard to conservation measures regarding threatened aquatic species, straddling and highly migratory species, and other marine resources."

The amendments also seek to alleviate poverty and to provide supplementary livelihood among municipal fisherfolks; improve productivity of aquaculture within ecological limits; promote optional use of offshore and deep-sea resources; and upgrade the post-harvest technology.

The law was also revised to reflect the need for the country to pursue and achieve its international commitments and to ensure that management of fishery and aquatic resources is also anchored on ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management.

Villar noted that the Philippines, being the sixth biggest fish producer in the world, has an aquaculture production of over US$1.58 billion. The fisheries sector also provides direct and indirect employment to over one million people, or about 12 percent of the agriculture sector of the labor force.