The waters surrounding Siquijor Province (i.e., Bohol Sea also known as the Mindanao Sea) are rich fishing grounds and, both small-scale and commercial fishers utilize the area. Catch from this area does not only benefit Siquijor Province but also the neighboring Cebu and Negros Island Region according to fisherfolk. However, many kubkub (vessels that indiscriminately captures fish make use of dragnets) have been fishing within Siquijor’s municipal waters.
Under The Philippine Fisheries Code (Republic Act 10654), the use of kubkub and other active fishing gear is illegal. Individuals who make use of this method violate another stipulation of the Code as they trespass within municipal waters, a zone 15km from the low tide point of the municipality coastline to the sea where only non-commercial fishing is allowed.
Siquijor Province has a Provincial Bantay Dagat Task Force (PBDTF), composed of staff from the Office of the Agriculturist (OPA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) appointed by the Governor. In the year 2016, the Provincial Bantay Dagat Chief who is also the Coastal Resource Management (CRM) Chief received death threats after arresting commercial fishing vessels owned by political tycoons of other provinces. This forced Siquijor Province to halt its coastal law enforcement (CLE) operations until harm was out of the way.
Economically and livelihood wise, the subsistence fisherfolk took the end of the brunt of this incident. According to a CCEF report, fisherfolk from selected barangays perceived that their catch declined up to 75%. They attributed these to typhoon damage and illegal commercial fishing. A province-wide planning and workshop was held in March 2016 to identify steps to take and gaps in CLE including marine protected area (MPA) enforcement. One major recommendation was to capacitate and strengthen the Municipality and MPA level enforcement teams so as to assist the PBDTF. This initiative was supported by OPA-Siquijor Province, SUIEMS — Foundation for the Philippine Environment Coral Reef Recovery in Typhoon Damaged Reefs Project and CCEF-UNICO Conservation Foundation ProReef Project.
To continue the CRM and CLE initiatives of Siquijor Province, the office of the Governor under the leadership of Hon. Zaldy S. Villa, the Sanguniang Panlalawigan, under the leadership of the Vice Governor Hon. Mei Ling Quezon, in coordination with Mr. Darell Pasco (Chief Bantay Dagat under OPA), initiated the formation of a “One Province, One Team” Provincial Bantay Dagat Task Force to combat illegal fishing. This initiative is in partnership and integrated into the efforts of the CCEF Project SUSTAIN (Strengthening and Up-scaling through Trainings, Alliance building, Institutionalization and Networking of MPAs) in Siquijor Province.
To date, efforts are on-going to form an inter-LGU CRM Alliance (i.e., Siquijor Province CRM Alliance or SPRCMA) between the six municipalities of Siquijor, Larena, Lazi, Enrique Villanueva and Larena wherein its CRM units are the 21 MPA management bodies, forming a network.
The SPCRMA Task force is the strengthened PBTF that will be named “One Province, One Team SPCRMA Task Force,” authorized to combat illegal fishing in MPAs and surrounding waters of Siquijor Province. Its major objective is to collaborate and, where appropriate, share human resources, technical, material and financial resources to ensure effective, efficient and sustainable management of the coastal, marine habitat and fishery resources within the municipal waters of the alliance. (Aileen Maypa and Michiko Bito-on)
