The municipal government of Masbate town has banned fishing in sanctuaries after pestered by big commercial fishing vessels encroaching into its territorial waters. This coastal town serves as principal supplier of fish and other marine products. Vice Mayor Gavino Regodon said that they want to save their fishing grounds from being overfished in favor of their marginal fishermen that comprise half of our 50,000 population and relying mainly on this resource for their livelihood.
The government bans fishing and harvesting of other marine products from two main fish sanctuaries off the town’s coastlines that serve as main breeding ground for most fishes found at its municipal waters within Asid Gulf. Considered as one of the few areas in the country that remain rich in precious marine life, Asid Gulf that lies at the southwestern part of the Masbate mainland is also considered the scallop fishery hub of the Philippines.
The conservation process could only be done through regulating fishing activities in the area, particularly by big commercial fishing vessels that sometimes use trawl, a method that adversely affects the scallop sanctuary. Experts believe that safeguarding the area from big commercial fishing vessels that mostly come from the neighboring Western Visayas region and manned by armed escorts, the ordinance also provides for the deployment of coastal guards that are tasked to enforce the fishing ban and serve as “striking force” against these illegal fishers.
