Personnel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Bicol intercepted on Feb. 11 at a checkpoint in Sorsogon City a van that contained illegally harvested shellfishes and crablets from the waters off Sorsogon province. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY BFAR BICOL
LIGAO CITY –– Enforcement personnel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) have seized over a hundred baskets of assorted shellfish and mangrove crablets at a mobile checkpoint in Sorsogon City on Thursday, Feb. 11.
BFAR Bicol spokesperson Nonie Enolva said on Friday that two persons were caught transporting 122 large baskets of assorted shellfish, such as green mussel, carpet shell, oyster, and clam; and six baskets of blue swimming crabs, six baskets of mangrove crabs, and a box of mangrove crablets.
She said the seized items, with a combined value of P376,640, were found to have been taken from the waters of Matnog and Magallanes towns and Sorsogon City and were bound for Metro Manila.
Personnel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Bicol intercepted on Feb. 11 at a checkpoint in Sorsogon City a van that contained illegally harvested shellfishes and crablets from the waters off Sorsogon province. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY BFAR BICOL
The gathering, sale, transport of all kinds of shellfish from Sorsogon province is prohibited because of the red tide alert still hoisted over Sorsogon Bay.
The two men also violated Fisheries Administrative Order No. 264 that regulates the catching, possession, transport, sale, trading, and export of mangrove crablets and juvenile mangrove crabs, said Enolva.
BFAR Bicol director Nelson B. Bien on Friday cautioned cargo and trucking service companies against transporting prohibited products, and familiarize themselves with fisheries regulations before accepting shipments.