The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has stepped up its campaign against illegal fishing by conducting random monitoring of public markets in Palawan for illegally-caught fish.
BFAR regional director for MIMAROPA Elizer Salilig said their Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement Group (FPLEG) has been monitoring some public markets for fish caught through dynamite and juveniles, describing their campaign strategy as “market denial.”
“Hindi lang sa dagat tayo manghuhuli kung hindi pati sa palengke, kung walang tagabili, wala magbebenta,” Salilig said.
“Nagkaroon ng random selection for market denial. May northern at southern Palawan, including yong mga juvenile kasi alam mo naman na pwedeng lumaki pero hinuli mo pa,” he added.
On July 28, the BFAR team swooped down on two stalls at the Coron Public Market selling illegally-caught fish. Confiscated from the stalls were 167 kilos of talakitok and 114 kilos of matangbaka amounting to around P36,000.00.
Salilig added that to intensify their campaign, the BFAR is conducting information and education campaign (IEC) in public markets.
“Bago mag-market denial, nagkakaron muna ng IEC. Nagbibigay tayo ng fliers sa palengke na bawal ang juvenile fishing,” he said.
BFAR MIMAROPA is also conducting market denials to other provinces of the region.
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