One more commercial fishing boat nabbed off Masbate town

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Authorities apprehended another commercial fishing boat caught fishing illegally within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing zone in San Pascual, Masbate on Wednesday, a leader of Task Force Bantay Dagat said.

Lito Pavia, team leader of Task Force Bantay Dagat, said the purse seine fishing vessel reportedly owned by Noli Yu, an operator from Batangas, was apprehended by a composite team from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Philippine National Police and Philippine Army at 6 a.m.

He said that aside from impounding the fishing vessel at the port of San Pascual, 24 crew members were also arrested and are now in the custody of the San Pascual Municipal Police Office.

The task force recovered from the fishing vessel at least 10 “bañeras” or tubs  of fish illegally caught in the municipal fishing zone of San Pascual, which is off limits to commercial fishing boats.

During the apprehension, members of the task force saw some of the crew members dropping a net full of fish.

Francisco Ombao, chief of BFAR Fishery Regulatory and Law Enforcement, said in July eight commercial fishing vessels were apprehended for violating fishery laws in coastal waters off San Pascual.

Ombao said a study has shown that illegal fishing practices by big commercial fishing vessels have been slowly killing the fishing industry.