It’s ‘open season’ anew for sardine fishing in Zambo Peninsula–bfar
THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has officially lifted on Monday, March 1, 2021, the 10th closed fishing season for sardines in the Zamboanga Peninsula, thereby allowing fishers to catch sardines in the area anew.
The declaration of a threemonth closed fishing season has been going on in the last 10 years in accordance to Bureau Administrative Circular (BAC) 255 as a marine conservation measure to help protect and conserve sardine species in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Beginning every December 1, the closed fishing season bans for three months the catching of sardines using purse seine, ring net, bagnet and scoop net within a conservation area covering the East Sulu Sea, Basilan Strait, and Sibuguey Bay.
By enforcing the closed season, sardines fish stocks are able to replenish and recover, ensuring the abundance of sardines and other fishery resources in the area.
Data from Region 9’s National Stock Assessment Program showed an upward trend in sardine production with the volume reaching an all-time high of 297,683.49 MT in 2020 since 2011, the year when the implementation of the closed season was started in Zamboanga. This is a significant indicator especially in sardinerich Zamboanga waters, which account for an average production of 49.25 percent of the country’s total sardine from 2010 to 2020 based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
In a news statement, BFAR National Director Eduardo B. Gongona urged fishermen to take advantage of the open fishing season.
“More than ever, now is the time to take advantage of this open fishing season to take part in ensuring the country’s food supply,” he said.
The active participation of law-enforcement units, the local government, the private sector, and stakeholders, including local fisherfolk and key players in the sardine industry, the government, through the DA-BFAR, he said, was able to implement effective conservation and management measures, including the sardine closed season.
In support of the closed fishing season and as part of its ongoing campaign against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF), the DA-BFAR, through the Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement Group in Region 9, continues to conduct full patrol operations. During the closed fishing season, seven apprehensions were made, but none in violation of BAC 255.
The implementation of the sardine closed fishing season in the Zamboanga Peninsula, as well as in other major sardine fishing grounds in the country is part of the integrated in the National Sardines Management Plan (NSMP).