Escalante City's Bantay-Dagat task force conducts dialogue with stakeholders
Escalante City Bantay-Dagat Task Force conducted a dialogue with the different stakeholders recently.
The task force was recently reorganized to safeguard the coastal and marine resources of the city against illegal fishing and the like.
Fishermen and trawl operators in the city were invited for a re-orientation of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 or the RA 8550.
The dialogue tackled among others, topics on registration of fishing boats to Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (FARM-C), maintaining of a log-book system with the Bantay-Dagat Task Force office before going out to sea, allowable fishing area, inspection of fishing equipments, kinds of fish allowed to be caught and how to file complaints in case of abuses in the enforcement procedures.
Fishermen are elated over their bigger catch as a result of strict implementation of Fishery Laws of the city.
City Mayor Melecio J. Yap, Jr. assured the fishermen of assistance for alternative sources of livelihood in case their present method of fishing is contrary to laws. (Escalante/PIA/EAD)