Philippines to amend fishing law to avoid EU ban

 

The amendment to the Fisheries Act will impose stiffer fines and more administrative penalties.

"This amendment is needed to save our tuna industry from sanctions from the EU," Senate President Franklin Drilon told reporters. 

"We have been marked as one country which have prevalent illegal fishing and unreported and unregistered fishing vessels, so we have passed the amendments to address the concerns of the European Union, and prevent sanctions on our tuna industry which can cost jobs, especially in General Santos City," he added. 

General Santos City in southern Philippines is the tuna capital of the country. In its 2012 audit report on the Philippines, the EU said that the country's present laws and regulations did not have enough sanctions and disincentives against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. 

Drilon said EU had issued a warning which may result in the blacklisting of all Philippine marine and fisheries products in the EU. He said Philippines has to enact the law by the end of the year to address the warning. A ban would harm the fishing industry and economic growth, he said. Fishing was responsible for 2.1 per cent of the gross domestic product, according to a 2012 study from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. In June, the House of Representatives already passed its own amendments to the fisheries law. A bicameral committee of house and Senate is due to finalise the law soon.