BY FELIPE CELINO
ROXAS City — Illegal fishing activities have become rampant in the coastal areas of Panay, Capiz in recent months, Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) member Jonathan “Sonny” Besa revealed.
Bottom trawling and dynamite fishing were now a common way of harvesting fish in Panay, leading to the destruction of millions of corals and sponges, which would take centuries to replace, he disclosed in a recent privileged speech.
These activities “[destroy] the spawning ground of fishes and [decimate] the habitat of the plethora of other marine life that used to be bountiful in our coasts,” Besa claimed based on a complaint of a landowner and the officials of barangays Lat-asan and Butacal.
A study by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources showed that the average fish biomass in the Visayan Sea — part of which were the waters off Panay — was 6.03 metric tons per square kilometers in the late 1940s.
Currently, it is down to 1.80 metric tons per kilometer due to overfishing and other forms of illegal fishing, the study said.
“It is heartbreaking to know that illegal fishing activities continue to be rampant in the province of Capiz, especially in the coastal area of Panay, threatening us with the irreversible destruction of the source of livelihood and food security of our people and their children,” Besa said.
He urged all Capiceños to stand against the destruction of the province’s rich natural marine resources.
“I call on all the towns and the provincial government of Capiz to unite for the preservation and rehabilitation of our fishing grounds,” said the SP member.
Besa also requested the SP’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to lead an investigation on the rampant illegal fishing activities.
