In Zambales, rampant illegal fishing alarms officials
RIPPLE EFFECT Small fishing boats are left idle on the shores of Barangay San Miguel in San Antonio, Zambales, in this photo taken on Monday, as local fishermen try to make ends meet amid the rising cost of fuel. —JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT
SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES — Authorities have sounded the alarm over rampant illegal fishing in this coastal province due to the unabated fuel price increases that have either forced local fishers to completely abandon fishing or shorten their time at sea to save on the cost of fuel.
Police Col. Fitz Macariola, Zambales police provincial director, on Friday said they arrested 26 fishermen in Sta. Cruz town after yielding 40 kilos of fish caught using cyanide on March 12. Confiscated from them were 11 compressors, seven plastic coolers, and two liquid cyanide tanks.
Macariola said in a text message that “economic reasons” were forcing the fishermen to resort to harmful fishing practices, such as using poisonous substances and fine mesh nets.
“These are our regular fishermen who are now engaging in illegal fishing [to improve their catch],” Macariola said.
Some 90 percent of the 15,000 registered boat operators in the province have temporarily stopped their fishing trips as they could no longer afford the high diesel cost, according to Bobby Roldan, chair of fisher group Pamalakaya in Central Luzon.
RIPPLE EFFECT Fishermen in San Antonio, Zambales check their catch after a brief fishing trip within the municipal waters in this photo taken on Monday. Due to the rising fuel cost, many of the local fishermen are forced to either abandon their source of livelihood or spend less time in the open sea. JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT
Job shifts
In a span of a month, the price of diesel rose from P780 to P924 for an average of 12-liter consumption per fishing trip, Roldan said.
According to Roldan, the rampant illegal fishing should move the government to address the issue of runaway prices of diesel. “[Illegal fishing] should raise an alarm as it endangers not only the marine and aquatic resources but the safety and security of the fishers most of all,” said Roldan in a phone interview on Thursday.
Boat owner Felix Agasa, 66, said other fishermen onboard large vessels from their neighboring towns were also fishing using illegal equipment.
“Our small-scale fishermen are also discouraged from setting out in the open sea because of the large fishing vessels that use illegal gill nets, “ Agasa told the Inquirer in an interview on Thursday.
Aside from being forced to do illegal fishing activities, many fishers are seeking other jobs that they perceive to be more sustainable than fishing, said Roldan.
“This trend of discouraged fishermen threatens our local food security and will give further justification for the government to flood our markets with cheap imports,” Roldan said.
Pamalakaya has been demanding the government to immediately act on calls for a big-time rollback on the prices of petroleum products.
It asked the government to immediately suspend the excise tax on fuel products and ultimately repeal the oil deregulation law that empowers oil companies to manipulate and control local oil prices in favor of their monopolistic interests.
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