Illegal fishing still sneaks in. Groups want Senate probe

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

International marine conservation organization Oceana and national fisherfolk federation PANGISDA Pilipinas have welcomed the resolution filed by Senator Risa Hontiveros seeking a Senate investigation, in aid of legislation, into how the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and other agencies are implementing Vessel Monitoring Measures (VMM).

Proposed Senate Resolution No. 324, filed by Hontiveros on March 3, 2026, directs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform to conduct an inquiry into the status of BFAR’s VMM implementation, specifically identifying issues related to the sharing of information among concerned agencies and other obstacles that hinder the measures’ effectiveness as a tool to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially in municipal waters.

The resolution seeks to determine whether gaps in enforcement, coordination, and data sharing are allowing the continued intrusion of commercial fishing vessels into the 15-kilometer municipal waters reserved exclusively for small-scale fisherfolk, where they have preference or priority in use.

“Kasama kami ni Senator Hontiveros sa kanyang panukalang imbestigahan ang BFAR dahil sa kakulangan nitong bantayan ang mga komersyal na pangisda na lumalabag sa batas at patuloy na nangingisda sa loob ng municipal water. Matagal na panahon nang nagbubulag-bulagan ang ahensya sa pangunahing dahilan ng pagbagsak ng ating pangisdaan. Iyan ay dahil inuuna ng pamahalaan ang komersyal na interes bago ang kapakanan ng mga municipal na mangingisda,” said Pablo Rosales, President of PANGISDA Pilipinas in a press statement.

Oceana Vice President Von Hernandez said it is high time that the Senate intervenes and investigates how the billions of pesos spent in the installation of vessel monitoring devices are being used to arrest and reverse the continuing decline in capture fisheries, especially for the benefit of artisanal fishers who stand to lose the most from BFAR’s refusal and reticence to share critical data with enforcement agencies and local government units.

“The continuous intrusion of commercial fishing vessels inside municipal waters is one of the major causes of overfishing and the reason why we are losing an average of 45 million kilos of fish catch every year. We support this investigation and we hope it leads to the enhanced protection of municipal waters across the country especially against illegal commercial fishing incursions,” said Hernandez.

“Fisherfolk remain among the poorest sectors in the country. Kailangan nating masiguro na ang mga polisiya ay nagpapaunlad ng kanilang buhay, hindi yung lalong nagpapalubog sa kanila,” Hontiveros stated.

The resolution cited data showing that BFAR procured 5,000 units of vessel monitoring system (VMS) transceivers or two-way transmitters worth PHP 2.096 billion.

In 2024, BFAR claimed it had installed transponders — electronic devices that automatically transmit or share navigational and identification data with other vessels and coastal authorities — on 90 percent of the targeted 3,077 commercial fishing vessels.

Despite this accomplishment, critical VMS data has still not been shared with enforcement agencies tasked with protecting the 15-kilometer municipal waters, specifically the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police Maritime Group (PNP-MG), marine protected area (MPA) managers, and LGUs within these MPAs.

The lack of information sharing, coordination, and enforcement has led to persistent intrusion of commercial fishing vessels into municipal waters.

Monitoring and analyses by Karagatan Patrol — an electronic monitoring platform created by Oceana and supported by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines — showed that commercial fishing intrusion into municipal waters averaged 80 per day during the period 2023–2025.

Detections by the same platform using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) showed intrusions averaged 29,338 per year within the same three-year period. The Karagatan Patrol has also monitored a twofold increase in commercial fishing vessel intrusion into marine protected areas, rising from 529 in 2017 to 1,373 in 2024.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data cited in the resolution shows that capture fisheries production declined from 2.6 million metric tons in 2010 to 1.9 million metric tons in 2023. Municipal fisheries output dropped to 802,770 metric tons in 2024, an 8.8 percent decrease from the 879,960 metric tons reported in 2023 — the lowest recorded level since 2002.

The average daily catch per municipal fisherfolk also fell from five kilograms in 2010 to just four kilograms in 2023, attesting to the impact of commercial fishing vessel intrusion on coastal fish stocks.

The fisherfolk sub-sector remains among the poorest in the country, with a poverty incidence of 27.4 percent in 2023 — well above the 15.5 percent national average, based on PSA data.

Since 2024, fisherfolk, local government units, and non-government organizations have consistently called for the full implementation of VMM in municipal waters and the sharing of VMM data among BFAR and relevant enforcement agencies.

The resolution invokes Article XII, Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution, which provides that the State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone and reserve its use and employment exclusively to Filipino citizens.

It also cites Article XIII, Section 7, which mandates the State to protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local communities, to the preferential use of local marine and fishing resources.

The Philippine Fisheries Code, Republic Act (RA) 8550 approved on February 25, 1998, and amended by RA 10654 on December 1, 2014 — otherwise known as An Act to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) — requires the Department of Agriculture, in coordination with LGUs, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Councils (FARMCs), the private sector, and other concerned agencies, to establish a Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS) system covering all Philippine-flagged fishing vessels regardless of fishing area and final destination of catch.

Section 119 of the Fisheries Code as amended provides that no fishing vessel shall engage in fishing activity without complying with VMM promulgated by BFAR in coordination with LGUs and relevant law enforcement agencies.

To implement these provisions, BFAR issued Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) No. 260 on October 5, 2018, setting the minimum technical and reporting standards for VMM and allowing access to real-time data for authorized enforcement agencies and MPA managers. BFAR later issued FAO No. 266 on October 12, 2020, amending FAO No. 260.