ILOILO City – Local government units (LGUs) in the Visayas vowed to hasten the implementation of the “Management Framework for the Conservation, Protection and Restoration of the Visayan Sea.”
The Visayan Sea is a rich fishing ground.
For this, a covenant signing was held yesterday. It was participated by local officials from the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Capiz, Masbate, and Cebu during the “Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 11 Governors Summit” at Eon Centennial Resort Hotel & Waterpark in Jaro district.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 6 spearheaded the summit. Regional Director Remia Aparri said the covenant had three priority goals:
(1) restore fishery resources and rehabilitate habitats of the Visayan Sea
(2) sustain livelihoods, both fishery and non-fishery related, through enhanced capacities, and equitable access to available resources, and
(3) establish efficient and effective governance structure with improved fishery law compliance and enforcement that addresses socio-economic security and ecological integrity
The Visayan Sea covers an area drawn through certain points and coastlines. These coastlines include from the mouth of the Danao River on the northeastern tip of Bantayan Island to Madridejos (Cebu) through the lighthouse on Gigantes Island (Iloilo), to Olotayan Island and Culasi Point (Capiz); eastward along the northern coast of Capiz to Bulacaue Point in Carles (Iloilo); southward along the eastern coast of Iloilo to the mouth of Talisay River; westward across the Guimaras Strait to Tomonton Point in Negros Occidental; eastward along the northern coast of Negros Island and back to the mouth of Danao River in Escalante, Negros Occidental.
Among those who attended the summit yesterday and signed the covenant were Iloilo’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., Capiz’s Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras, environmentalist Atty. Antonio Oposa, former Negros Occidental governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., Western Visayas Associate Graft Investigation Officer Evangeline Nuñal of the Office of the Ombudsman, BFAR Region 6 and Region 7 officials, Philippine National Police, representatives of governors from Cebu, Negros Occidental and Masbate, and others stakeholders.
According to Aparri, the tasks of local governments in the fisheries management of the Visayan Sea are the following:
* manage and implement regulations of fisheries in municipal waters, as provide by law
* ensure that local regulations and management measures are consistent with the FMA policies and management measures
* as may be appropriate or needed, local governments in consultation with their respective Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Councils will enact local ordinances based on FMA policies and management measures
* submit a summary report to the FMA Management Board on their compliance with the FMA policies and management measures/PN
