The three-month closed
season for the Davao Gulf will resume beginning June to allow tuna and other fish species to spawn.
A Joint Administrative
Order by the secretaries of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of
Interior and Local Government mandated the implementation from June 1 to August
31 of the closed season in the Davao Gulf.
“The closed season for
commercial fishing boats aimed to conserve marine resources, to secure the
spawning period of pelagic fishes in the gulf and improve the country’s
compliance with the European Commission’s regulations specifically on
unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources (BFAR) Davao Region Director Fatma Idris said.
She said the Davao
Gulf is an ideal and potential spawning and breeding ground for tuna and
tuna-like species. Of the 49 municipalities in the region, 30 are categorized
as coastal.
Idris said study
confirms that tuna spawns inside Davao Gulf where most of them can be found
near the mouth of the gulf. Thus, she added, special attention and strict
enforcement s should be given near the mouth and eastern portion of the gulf
where high concentrations of tuna was found.
The government's
campaign against IUUF is one of the measures being implemented to remove the
country's yellow card tag given by the European Union (EU).
Perez said unless the
country shapes up and complies with the other conditions set by EU then it may
be banned from exporting its fish resources in one if its main markets. The
Philippines has exported P9.4 billion of fish products to the EU in 2014.
Under the terms of the
Closed Season, fishermen or fishing companies will not be allowed to catch
pelagic fishes using ringnet and bagnet. The ban also applies to small-scale to
large scale commercial fishing with vessels from 3.1 gross tons (GT) to more
than 150 GT. (lovely carillo)
