(NAR) VOL. 29 NO. 3/ JULY - SEPTEMBER 18
1) Automatic Location Communicator (ALC) or Mobile Tracking-Transceiver Unit - a two-way automatic tracking device WCPFC-approved device to be installed on fishing vessels that utilizes a satellite navigation and communication system for the purpose of transmitting information concerning the Philippine-flagged fishing vessels’ positions, fishing activities, and any other activity of the vessels as may be required.Section 2. Scope and Application
2) Bureau/BFAR - Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
3) Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) - Refers to a system used to track and monitor the position, time, course and speed of commercial fishing vessels in the territorial waters, EEZ and the high seas for purposes of conservation and management of fisheries resources.
4) Commercial Fishing Vessel/Gear License (CFVGL) - authorization granted by BFAR to fishing vessel operators to fish within commercial waters (>15 km from the shoreline) of the Philippines pursuant to Sec. 26 of R.A. 8550.
5) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) - an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea of a country as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and their respective existing laws.
6) Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) - devices that shall include drifting logs other drifting objects and anchored FADs.
7) Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC) - serves as a land-based component for BFAR fisheries monitoring control and surveillance which operates and maintains the Vessel Monitoring System
8) Handline fishing - refers to a traditional fishing method that uses the hook and line, a passive fishing gear with a single vertical line carrying one hook, and used by simply dropping the line into the water and waiting for the fish to bite.
9) Handline Fishing Boat - refers to a fishing boat with or without outrigger, with or without auxiliary small boats on board that exclusively utilizes the handline fishing method with or without the aid of a carrier operating as a group.
10) Pakura or Sirisan - is an auxiliary small boat, less than three (3) gross tons locally known as “pakura” or “sirisan” made of wood, fiberglass or any other material, with or without outrigger, propelled by a suitable engine and carried onboard a handline fishing boat for use in handline fishing operations beyond municipal waters.
11) High Seas (HS) - the area beyond Philippine waters which does not belong to the jurisdiction of any other State.
12) HSPI - High Seas Pocket 1 as referred to in CMM 2017-01 (see Attachment
2)
13) International Fishing Permit (IFP) - authorization granted by BFAR to licensed Philippine-flagged vessels to fish in waters of other coastal states and high seas where the Philippines has access agreements.
14) Regional Fisheries Observer - Personnel duly authorized by the Commission’s Regional Observer Program to collect and record fisheries scientific data on fishing activities and monitor/report vessel compliance on the various CMMs by the Commission, other RFMOs and by the Bureau’s compatible measures.
15) Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) - Organizations that implement conservation and management measures on tuna such as IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission), ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna), and WCPFC in which the Philippines is a member and the CCSBT (Commission on the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna) in which Philippines is cooperating non-member.
16) WCPFC - Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
1) This Administrative Order covers Philippine-registered handline fishing boats issued with International Fishing Permits and Special Permit to operate in the high seas of WCPFC Convention Area and registered in the WCPFC Records of Fishing Vessels.Section 3. Allocation of Fishing Access
2) This Administrative Order applies only to high seas in the WCPFC Convention Area (See CMM 2017-01 Attachment 2), which is the area of the high seas bounded by the EEZs of the Federated States of Micronesia to the north and east, Republic of Palau to the west, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the south with exact coordinates as used by WCPFC Vessel Monitoring System.
a) The handline fishing boats are Philippine-registered with valid Commercial Fishing Vessel and Gear License (CFVGL), International Fishing Permit and Special Permit to operate in the high seas of WCPFC Convention Area, subject to annual renewal and payment of an annual fee at the rate of USD 300 for handline fishing boats of 40 gross tonnage and below, and USD 600 for over 40 gross tonnage;2) Procedure in the Allocation of Fishing Access.
b) The handline fishing boats must be compliant with Philippine Coast
Guard and Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) rules and regulations;
c) The handline fishing boats must be Catch Documentary Scheme compliant;
d) The handline fishing boats must not have involved in any administrative or criminal offense for engaging in fishing activities in the Convention Area in violation of any conservation and management measures adopted by the WCPFC;
e) The handline fishing boats shall be registered with WCPFC;
f) The handline fishing boats shall be equipped with two-way Vessel
Monitoring System;
g) Each handline fishing boat shall commit to deploy no more than 2 FADs;
h) The boat owner and three highest ranking officers of the boat must have attended the orientation to be conducted by the Bureau prior to operation;
a) Letter of Intent. All interested persons, corporations or entities shall submit a formal letter of Intent (LOI) addressed to the Director of the Bureau indicating the handline fishing boat details such as registered name, gross tonnage, and gear.Section 4. Vessel Monitoring System. All handline fishing boats and corresponding carrier boats shall be equipped with and shall operate a two-way Automatic Location Communicator in accordance to FAO 241 Series of 2012 on Regulations in the Implementation of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) in the High Seas, CMM 2011-02 and CMM 2017-01. The FMC shall provide continuous real-time VMS information to the adjacent Coastal States/Territories for monitoring purposes. Access to VMS and other data shall be in accordance with WCPFC Rules and Procedures for the Protection, Access to and Dissemination of High Seas Non-Public Domain Data and Information Compiled by WCPFC for the Purpose of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Activities and Access to and Dissemination of High Seas VMS for Scientific Purposes.
b) Evaluation. Those who have submitted LOI will be evaluated on the basis of their compliance to the criteria and their history of fishing operations.
1) Handline fishing boats, carrier vessels and fishing companies shall notify BFAR through electronic or any other means at least 24 hours prior to entry and no more than 6 hours prior to exiting the fishing ground. Likewise, this information shall be transmitted to the adjacent Coastal States/Territories and WCPFC.Section 6. Vessel Listing. The Bureau shall maintain an updated list of all handline fishing boats operating in the high seas based on vessel’s entry and exit reports submitted to WCPFC. The list will be submitted to WCPFC and will be made available to WCPFC members and other concerned stakeholders through dedicated website, www.bfar.da.gov.ph.
2) Report should be in the following format: “VID/entry or Exit Date/Time; Lat/Long.”
3) Handline fishing boats operating in high seas should report sightings of any fishing vessel to BFAR and WCPFC Secretariat. Such information shall include vessel type, date, time, position, markings, heading and speed.
a) Two hundred fifty thousand pesos (P250,000.00) for small-scale commercial fishing;2) Pursuant to Section 89 of R.A. 8550 as amended by R.A. 10654, violation of Section 5 and 7, cases of unreported fishing committed in waters beyond national jurisdiction or high seas, the owner, operator, and the three (3) highest officers of the commercial fishing vessel shall be penalized with an administrative fine equivalent to five (5) times the value of the catch or the amount indicated below, whichever is higher:
b) Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) for medium-scale commercial fishing; and
c) Two million five hundred thousand pesos (P2,500,000.00) for large-scale commercial fishing.
a) Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00) to Nine million pesos (P9,000,000.00)Upon conviction by a court of law, the three (3) highest officers of the commercial fishing vessel shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of six (6) months and a fine equivalent to twice the amount of the administrative fine, and confiscation of catch and gear.
for small-scale commercial fishing;
b) Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) to Fifteen million pesos
(P15,000,000.00) for medium-scale commercial fishing; and
c) Sixteen million pesos (P16,000,000.00) to Twenty million pesos (P20,000,000.00) for large-scale commercial fishing vessels less than seven hundred fifty (750) gross tons, and Twenty-five million pesos (P25,000,000.00) to Forty-five million pesos (P45,000,000.00) for large- scale commercial fishing vessels seven hundred fifty (750) gross tons or more.