Fish pen operators snub hearing on demolition of illegal structures
FISH pen operators in Dagupan City were a no-show at the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) committee hearing last week on a proposed ordinance that seeks to integrate and give more teeth to all existing local laws against illegal fish pens that are again teeming in the city’s various rivers.
The hearing was conducted by three standing committees: agriculture and fisheries, natural resources and environment, and the laws, ordinances, and judiciary committees. It was also attended by Majority Leader Michael Fernandez, who was the acting vice mayor at that time.
In attendance as resource speakers were City Agriculture Officer Mary Ann Solomon; Sherwin Ubando, head of the Bantay Ilog Task Force; and barangay captains of all riverbank communities where the illegal fish pens and other fish aggregating devices or contraptions abound.
The fish pen owners, operators, and even their financiers snubbed the invitation to the hearing, where they could have expressed their position and thoughts on the proposed ordinance.
Councilor Lino Fernandez, chair of the committee on agriculture and fisheries, lamented the absence of the stakeholders, which means another hearing will have to be scheduled.
He hinted that it was the presence of illegal fish pens near the mouth or within the mouth of the river that hindered the flow of water from upstream of the Pantal River during the flood in late July, contributing to the slow recession of floodwaters.
City Agriculture Officer Solomon said that based on their initial assessment, some fish contraptions are violating the Philippine Fisheries Code and need to be removed.
The Fishery Code, as amended, expressly prohibits the construction of any fishing structure in the mouths of rivers, one kilometer towards the sea, and one kilometer upstream.
Solomon further said that fish pens, fish cages, floating rafts for oysters, skylab, skyblue, “batikwas” and “pukets” now teeming in various rivers must be covered by an Aquaculture Agreement (ALA) between the city government and the owners of the contraptions under Ordinance No. 248-2015.
Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, chair of the laws, ordinances and judiciary committee, said a comprehensive ordinance, incorporating the two existing ordinances, is needed to give more power to the city mayor, through the Bantay Ilog Task Force, to do away with all illegal fish pens in Dagupan. (Leonardo Micua)
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