Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 28) — A fishers group on Monday expressed concern over a House of Representatives bill seeking to declare some areas in the West Philippine Sea as marine protected, possibly resulting in restrictions to small-scale fishers to the advantage of Chinese and foreign poachers.
House Bill 6373 filed by Palawan 3rd District Rep. Edward Hagedorn proposes to designate as marine protected areas waters within three nautical miles from the baselines surrounding the Kalayaan Island Group and Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, along with all low-tide elevations and high-tide features.
“While we acknowledge the objective of the bill to protect the major features in the West Philippine Sea against destructive fishing practices, we fear that this might sweepingly cover small fishers, as the proposed marine protected areas will be within the municipal waters,” said Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) national chairperson Fernando Hicap.
The group said three nautical miles are equivalent to almost six kilometers of the 15-kilometer designated municipal waters, reserved for the preferential use and access of municipal and artisanal fisherfolk.
“We will be vigilant of this bill that could restrict Filipino fishers from their traditional fishing grounds while actually failing to prevent China and other foreign fleets from conducting large-scale fishing, among other destructive activities beyond the municipal waters,” Hicap said.
Local conservation measures would be “unnecessary” if only the Marcos administration effectively upholds the arbitral ruling recognizing the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea, PAMALAKAYA added.
Under the bill, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will designate protection zones within the marine protected areas and buffer zones to provide extra layers of protection, upon the recommendation of the Protected Area Management Board.
Prohibited acts will include use of any fishing or harvesting gears and practices that destroy coral reefs, seagrass beds or other marine life and undertaking mineral explorations or extraction within the protected area.
Hagedorn noted that the bill will follow the historic arbitral tribunal ruling which provided also that traditional fishing around the Scarborough Shoal is allowed.
In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in its case against China on the West Philippine Sea dispute. The ruling invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea and recognized Manila’s sovereign rights in areas within its 200-nautical mile EEZ that Beijing contests.
