Personnel of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force inspect the P500,000 worth of worth of dynamited fish seized in Mandaue City. (Contributed Photo)
Two fishermen were arrested after they were caught using dynamite to catch fish off Caubian Island in Lapu-Lapu City yesterday morning.
Teofilo Aying, 31, and Rolando Siton, 27, both residents of Caubian Island, will be charged with violating Republic Act 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. The two also violated city ordinances that prohibit fishing with the use of an air compressor and for using an unregistered boat.
The two were arrested by operatives of the Task Force Kalikasan (TFK) led by PO1 Brando Maraña, who acted on a tip of an ongoing illegal fishing.
Police aboard a speed boat intercepted the fishermen in the waters off barangay Caubian.
Seized from their motorized boat were five improvised explosives, five kilos of blasted fish, an air compressor, swimming fins and dive masks.
Supt. Virgilio Ranes, head of the task force, said the arrest is part of their aggressive campaign to stop illegal fishing in the city.
A few weeks ago, police visited various islands and islets in Lapu-Lapu to seek the cooperation of fishermen in their campaign against illegal fishing as well as other forms of illegal activities.
In a separate incident, P500,000 worth of blasted fish were seized from a truck in Mandaue City past 1 a.m. yesterday.
The boxes of fish weighing 60 kilos were considered “first class” that included pakol, bagis and lapu-lapu. They were believed to have come from Mindanao.
The Elf truck was on its way to Cebu City when it was flagged down near the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) by personnel of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force (CPAIFTF).
The task force, along with the maritime police, provincial agriculture and personnel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), conducted a “market denial” along Tribunal Street that led to the confiscation.
The confiscated fish will be donated to charitable institutions in Cebu.
The driver and the two truck helpers said they didn’t know who owns the seized fish and that they were just hired to deliver them to Pasil Market in Cebu City.
They were eventually released.