PIÑOL MAY AXE OFFICIALS OVER ILLEGAL FISHING

AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on Friday warned that he will axe some regional directors of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) if they fail to stop illegal fishing activities in their areas. This, following a recent report he received about illegal fishing of baby sharks in Zamboanga City, being sold openly along R. T. Lim Avenue. “Stop illegal fishing or face stiff sanctions,” he said in his Facebook post. “The Regional Director of BFAR in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Isidro Velayo, is one of the good-performing directors of the bureau but with this evidence of illegal fishing in his area, I am publicly directing him to stop these illegal activities in two weeks or face sanctions,” he added. Republic Act 10654, also known as the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, declares that sharks are endangered species. Anyone caught violating the law can be fined P500,000 to P5 million, or face imprisonment from 12 to 20 years. Meanwhile, DA-BFAR will closely coordinate with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the enforcement of fisheries laws, said Piñol. “The campaign against illegal fishing has always been a challenging task for the BFAR because many of those involved in illegal fishing operations are protected by local officials or are the local officials themselves,” he noted.