Bicol records high number of fisheries law violations

By Mavic Conde

The Bicol region or Region V, Western Visayas (Regions VI) and Northern Mindanao (RegionX), have recorded the highest number of apprehensions during the land-based operations of fisheries law enforcement last week of July.

From over a hundred field operations, the three regions recorded three apprehensions each. In Bicol, all three apprehensions were due to lack of transport documents, according to a summary report from Karagatan Patrol, an online platform for reporting illegal fishing activities.

Two of these apprehensions happened in Sorsogon during a joint fisheries checkpoint by Philippine National Police (PNP) Castilla and Provincial Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (PLECC) Sorsogon.

The violators were aluminum wing van trucks carrying 179 sacks of assorted shellfish worth approximately P447,500 and 44 sacks of shellfish worth approximately P107,500, respectively. The violators failed to comply with the standards and trade-related measures, and safe and quality control standards for paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The third violator, a Fuso Forward truck, was caught in Sta. Elena, Camarines Norte during a fisheries checkpoint. It was carrying 1000 boxes of frozen fishery products and 20 boxes of smoked fish. Besides not having travel documents, it was also apprehended for trying to tamper with local transport permit.