GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/07 September) – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has launched an investigation of the apprehension by the United States (US) Coastguard last month of two Philippine-based fishing vessels for allegedly poaching in the high seas off the Pacific Ocean.
Lawyer Benjamin Tabios, BFAR assistant director for administrative services, said they received a report by email from the US Coastguard recently that it stopped two fishing vessels of RLG Fishing Company based in Mati, Davao Oriental while fishing illegally last August 19 in the international waters north of the Republic of Palau.
He said US Coastguard personnel, acting on a directive from the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), boarded and inspected the fishing vessels and reportedly found them lacking the required international fishing permit and related documentation.
Tabios said the apprehended fishing vessels, which comprised a carrier and a catcher boat, were also found operating without any vessel monitoring system and with its satellite transponder lacking any observer.
“We already set the motion in process for an administrative case to be filed against the erring company for violating its fishing license,” he told reporters.
Citing government fishing regulations, Tabios said the accosted fishing vessels were only allowed to operate within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
“Based on our records, these vessels were not issued with any international fishing permit so they’re not allowed to operate in the high seas or beyond our territorial waters,” he explained.
Aside from such violation, he said the two vessels were not included in the authorized vessels list of the WCPFC, an international body that regulates fishing activities and manages fishery resources within the Pacific Ocean.
The WCPFC was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, of which the Philippines is a signatory, that came into force in 2004.
But Tabios noted that the two fishing vessels were not apprehended by the US Coastguard within the portion of the high seas that was closed down for at least two years starting last January 1 by the WCPFC.
The WCPFC earlier imposed the fishing ban on all of its 25-member countries and 10 other observer-states as a result of scientific studies and the emergence of statistics that showed the drastic decline of tuna fish stocks, especially bigeye and yellowfin tuna.
“They were caught outside the two pockets of the high seas where the fishing ban is presently being implemented,” he stressed.
Owing to these violations, Tabios said the erring fishing company may face the possible revocation of their fishing license and several other sanctions.
“We’ll make sure that all these will be made under due process. We’re doing the investigation because we want to the US Coastguard’s report properly verified and backed up with the necessary evidences,” he said.
But as of last weekend, Tabios admitted that they have yet to serve the notice of investigation and file administrative charges against the erring fishing company.
“Our servers tried to serve it to the company but they refused to receive it. But we’re working on some alternatives to have the notice properly served to them within the next few days,” he added. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
