DAVAO CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 11 said they are looking at an increase in the fish catch for the Davao Region in 2017, setting the fish catch for this year at 65,597 metric tons (MT).
BFAR 11 director Fatma Idris told a press conference on Monday that the target fish catch this year is higher as compared with 2015’s target of 59,037 MT due to the successful implementation of fishing ban at the Davao Gulf.
In 2014, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued a joint Administrative Circular No. 2 prohibiting fishing at the gulf from June 1 to August 31.
Commercial fishing vessels from 3.1 to 150 gross tons are banned from fishing in the gulf. The ban prohibits the use of bag nets and ring nets.
Records from BFAR 11 showed that the fish catch in the region as of third quarter of 2016 reached a total of 43,567 MT.
Idris said fishers in Mabini, Compostela Valley and San Isidro in Davao Oriental claimed they had reported an increase in their fish catch of at least two to 10 kilos a day after the fish ban period.
She said that BFAR 11 will distribute around 1,500 fiber glass boats with engines to fishers in the region this year while another 3,000 units within the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte. (Antonio L. Colina IV)