PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to come up with comprehensive studies on the rehabilitation and maintenance of the country’s marine habitats to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF).
Marcos, who is also the concurrent DA Secretary, has emphasized in a meeting on June 13 the need for the Philippines to comply with its international commitments, particularly to the European Union on preventing IUUF. He also highlighted the importance of addressing the concerns of fishery stakeholders by using a science-based approach in managing marine resources.
With this, the DA and the BFAR were directed to work closely with the Office of the Executive Secretary to craft the necessary issuances to implement Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) No. 266, series of 2020, which requires commercial fishing vessels (CFVs) to install vessel monitoring systems (VMS).
The DA and the BFAR were also directed to study the establishment of Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZ) to provide fishery stakeholders with an area for sustainable fishing and to review the licenses of CFVs that fail to comply with FAO No. 266, series of 2020.
The DA and the BFAR were further directed to study Republic Act (RA) No. 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, as amended by RA No. 10654, to determine the provisions that need to be amended.
The BFAR is an attached agency of the DA.
