TACLOBAN CITY – Fishery school Visayas State University (VSU) satellite campus in Tolosa, Leyte, has joined government agencies and several groups in opposing the Supreme Court (SC) decision allowing commercial vessels to operate within the 15-kilometer municipal waters previously intended for small-scale fishermen.
The Faculty of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences of the VSU Tolosa campus said in a statement Thursday that the ruling “poses a serious threat to the coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend on the resources therein.”
The school calls for the status quo of the implementing rules and regulations of the Republic Act (RA) 8550, or The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, as amended by RA 10654, otherwise known as an Act to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, on prohibiting the entry of the commercial fishing vessels in the municipal waters.
“By allowing the commercial fishing activities in municipal waters, it would add immense pressure that would intensify overfishing and devastate the marine ecosystems that are already under strain,” the school said.
The VSU satellite campus said most of the commercial fishers in the country use active gears, including trawl, Danish seine, purse seine, and ring net, which are not only highly efficient but are also associated with negative biological and environmental impacts.
“On top of these, the entry of the commercial vessels would imperil the livelihood of the small-scale fishers who highly depend on the municipal waters for their daily sustenance and potentially, all other stakeholders in the chain will also be affected,” the VSU campus added.
Allowing the entry of commercial fishing vessels into municipal waters would jeopardize both the coastal environment and the people dependent on it, especially artisanal or small-scale fishers, it said.
Last month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agency, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), sought the reversal of a High Court decision that allowed commercial fishing in municipal waters.
The BFAR’s motion stemmed from the SC’s First Division ruling affirming a Malabon Regional Trial Court decision in favor of the petition of Mercidar Fishing Corp. to operate in municipal waters.
The VSU-Tolosa Campus in the coastal town of Tolosa was established on Sept. 11, 1971, and was formerly named Daniel Z. Romualdez Memorial School of Fisheries.
It aims to spearhead the region’s socio-economic development through relevant fishery instruction, research, extension, and production, which will result in the proper utilization and management of fishery resources.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
