Pescador Island | Source: Wikicommons
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial government is planning to reopen Pescador Island this month.
And in its relaunching, divers may be able to experience other activities that will help expedite the island’s recovery after being devastated by Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai).
The Capitol recently announced that it’s preparing Moalboal to welcome tourists again. Moalboal hosts Pescador Island, one of the most popular diving spots in Cebu.
Part of their plans for the reopening of Pescador Island is the inclusion of coral replanting acts such as coral transplanting and matting in diving activities. The government is targeting to welcome divers again to this islet this February 26.
According to a report from Sugbo News, the province-ran media outlet, the move was made to ‘strike a balance between habitat recovery and restarting tourism’ in Moalboal.
“It becomes, actually, help Pescador recover. Unya mas… na value added na sa usual dive na ilahang gibuhat sa una nga just to look. Karun, they are actually doing their part na mahibalik ang kanindut sa Pescador,” said Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
(It becomes, actually, help Pescador recover. Then… there is value added to their usual dive where they will just look. Now, they are actually doing their part to help return the beauty of Pescador.)
Garcia on February 2 also gathered tourism stakeholders in Cebu and Moalboal to discuss other measures needed for the reopening of tourism in this fourth-class town in southwestern Cebu.
These included coral recovery monitoring and management and setting up an underwater nursery, to name some.
Present in the meeting were Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7) director Shalimar Tamano, Atty. Daniel Oral of Maritime Industry Authority, Provincial Tourism Officer Marti Ybañez, Provincial Environment Chief Jose Cleo Colis, Moalboal Mayor Paz Rozgoni, Cebu Provincial Police Office director, Col. Engelbert Soriano, and marine biologists led by Angelie Nellas.
Pescador Island was not spared by Odette’s fury. As a result, the local government of Moalboal decided to temporarily close it from tourists for three months to give marine life surrounding it time to recover and rehabilitate.
Pescador Island is an islet located along Tañon Strait, and it’s known to host famous diving activities such as the ‘sardine run’.
Divers also frequent Pescador Island to witness the rich marine biodiversity found in Tañon Strait.
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