Marcos mulls fishing ban in certain areas to address overfishing

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the government is considering imposing a fishing ban in certain areas of the country to address overfishing.

He said this may be enforced in sites particularly intended for fish breeding and propagation.

“Kung minsan, kailangan ‘wag uubusin ‘yung isda para sa next season mayroon pa. Kaya ‘yun ‘yung tinitignan natin ngayon,” the president said, as quoted by the Presidential Communications Office in a release.

“At may mga lugar na hindi dapat gawin palaisdaan dahil ito nga ay para sa breeding….para dumami ang population ng mga isda. Kaya ‘yun ang ating pinaplano,” he added.

[Translation: Sometimes, there’s a need to limit fishing so that there is still supply during the next season. That’s what we’re looking at now. And there are areas that shouldn’t be fishing sites, because these are supposed to be for breeding, to increase fish population. So, that’s what we’re planning.]

Marcos, who is concurrently Agriculture secretary, also said his administration will put up more cold storage facilities and provide ice machines to help fisherfolk prevent spoilage of their catch.

“Tapos ang isusunod natin after that ay ‘yung processing na para doon lang sa isang lugar ang magiging processing," he added. "‘Yun ang ating mga pinaplano para sa fisheries."

[Translation: After that, we also want to put up fish processing facilities so the processing could be done in just one area. These are what we are planning for the fisheries sector.]