BFAR imposes 3-month fishing ban in Sulu, Basilan

COTABATO CITY: The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BFAR–ARMM) has imposed a ban or

- ban” or Indian sardine in the Sulu Sea and Basilan Strait.

The ban also includes the selling, buying and possessing of sardines caught within the conservation area, said Jerusalem Abdulahim, chief of the BFAR–ARMM Fisheries Regulatory and Law Enforcement Division

is being implemented to give time for tamban to reproduce.

The Philippine Fisheries Code of the waters of East Sulu Sea, Basilan Strait and Sibuguey Bay is temporar species’ spawning period.

To ensure full compliance with the administrative order, Abdula- him said BFAR–ARMM’s vessels are patrolling the seas in the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to enforce the closed season policy.

catch and gear and an administra value of the catch, or a penalty ranging from P50,000 for small-scale

Abdulahim said some of the closed season have scheduled renovating their ships during the period workers would still be compensated.

Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority ( PSA) covering July- September 2017, positive growth in tamban production was registered in ARMM result of good weather conditions and abundance of in-season spe

The region produced 1,311.9 metric tons of tamban in the third quarter of 2017.

In 2016, PSA data showed region in the country. It was also the country’s highest producer of

The region produced 867,939 metric tons in 2015 and 824,313 metric tons in 2016. As of November 2017, BFAR–ARMM reported in the entire region.