Thursday, October 18, 2007 Fisheries group: Dynamite fishing still a threat to gulf By Carlo P. Mallo
DYNAMITE fishing is indeed still being practiced and remains to be a major threat to the marine resources of Davao Gulf, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Southern Mindanao admitted.
Yet BFAR points to the local government unit of coastal communities as the ones in charge of solving the problem.
The areas of Tibungco in Davao City, municipalities along the coasts of Davao Oriental, and Astorga in Davao del Sur have been identified as the areas where dynamite fishing usually takes place.
In an interview with BFAR-Southern Mindanao Director George Campeon Wednesday, he said that under the local government code, the jurisdiction over the protection of the municipal waters is with the respective municipalities.
"The municipal waters (the first 15 kilometers from the shoreline) are under the municipalities and not with the BFAR," Campeon said.
Moreover, Campeon added that though they do not have jurisdiction over the municipal waters, they still extend a hand to equip the local government units with the capacity to fight off dynamite fishing and other fishing methods hazardous to the environment and to the people.
"We have trained the local officials to become Bantay Dagat, we have also provided them with patrol boats and radio communication devices," Campeon said.
Campeon also discounted a possible increase in incidents of dynamite fishing in the region. Instead, he asserted that dynamite fishing has been on the decline.
