THE Philippines vowed to support the global community in preventing illegal fishing, marine pollution and climate-related impacts on the ocean, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. and Agriculture Undersecretary for Fisheries and concurrent Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director Eduardo Gongona led the Philippine delegation to the Our Ocean Conference held in the US to create awareness among countries to fight illegal fishing in the ocean.
“The Our Oceans conference brings together heads of state, scientists, business leaders, NGOs, among others to tackle key issues including marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate-related impacts on the ocean,” the DFA said.
This year’s Our Ocean Conference is the third edition called “Our Ocean, One Future.” It is hinged on international commitments to protect the ocean created previously during two conferences.
The said commitments have prompted more than 136 new initiatives on marine conservation and protection that are valued at over $5.24 billion and covers almost four million square kilometers of ocean.
“This is an initiative to create a global community geared towards combating illegal fishing around the world through knowledge sharing and better coordination,” Yasay said.
More than 40 counter illegal fishing projects worth over $82 million are affiliated with the Safe Ocean Network. Partners include Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Cabo Verde, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the European Union, Gabon, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Senegal, Seychelles, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vanuatu; and other non-governmental and multilateral institutions dealing with the issue of illegal fishing.
“As a Safe Ocean Network partner, the Philippines is committed to undertake activities to better combat illegal fishing. The DA-BFAR has been a partner of the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] and the USAID since 2015 on the “night lights” satellite boat detection using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite [VIIRS],” the DFA said.
“The application of VIIRS has been most useful in fisheries management during the closed season for fishing of sardines and round scads in major fishing grounds. VIIRS has successfully set up alert services in areas covered by the closed season. These open source data proved to be more useful in assessing the effectiveness of new policies, monitoring fishing activities, fish stocks, and enforcement purposes,” the DFA added.
The DA-BFAR and the US Department of the Interior partnership provided technical assistance and support in the development of the Fishery Law Enforcement Management Information System and the Fishery Law Enforcement Manual of Operations, including the capacity-building component for Fisheries Regulations Officers.
Being a major fish-producing country with 1.7 million fisher-folk dependent on the fisheries, the Philippines is seriously committed to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing, the DFA said.