PCG deploys air asset to curb illegal fishing in Tañon Strait

CEBU CITY - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has deployed its air asset in Central Visayas to start aerial surveillance patrols at the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS) and stop illegal fishing in the maritime area, the Coast Guard's regional spokesperson said on

Thursday.

Lt. Junior Grade Michael Encina, PCG-Central Visayas spokesperson, said the PCG plane, Islander 251, arrived at the MactanCebu International Airport for three straight days of aerial mission above the region’s skies starting Thursday.

“The intention of the mission is to fly around Central Visayas, with a primary focus to patrol the skies above the Tañon Strait where illegal fishing activities are rampant,” Encina told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview.

The mission is part of the routine patrol in the region that will culminate on Friday (July 26), he said.

Islander 251 is one of Coast Guard’s surveillance aircraft registered as RPC251. The other plane is PCG-684.

Encina said PCG-Central Visayas District Commander Ronnie Gil Gavan wants Islander 251 to conduct an intensified campaign to deter any forms of maritime lawlessness, particularly illegal fishing along the TSPS.

“At this moment in time, the intention is to involve the LGUs (local government units) in the enforcement of laws,” Encina said.

A composite team comprising operatives from the PCG, Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has been actively enforcing Republic Act 8550 (Fisheries Code of 1998) at the Tañon Strait, he said.

The DENR earlier declared the TSPS as the biggest protected seascape in the country today, with a total coverage area of 518,221 hectares of coastal and marine habitat of live coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves, and marine mammals.

Last year, the DENR said the strait is also home to 14 of the 28 protected species of dolphins in the Philippines.

In 1998, Tañon Strait was declared as a protected seascape under the National Integrated Protected Areas System of 1992. It is now being managed by multi-sectoral protected area management councils established by every local government unit within the TSPS coverage area. (PNA)

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