Pilar fisherman nabbed, fined for fishing using air compressor

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police in the municipality of Pilar in Cebu urge fishermen in this town to follow fishing laws to avoid getting penalized or having their fishing boats confiscated.

This after four fishermen from the town’s Barangay Moabog were caught for using air compressor for fishing fishing in the waters off Barangay Cawit on Thursday, September 17, 2020, which is a violation of Republic Act (RA) 8550 or the 1998 Fisheries Code of the Philippines.

The four were fined P10,000 while their wooden fishing boat was also confiscated.

Police Corporal Lendy Villagonzales of the Pilar police identified the fishermen as Arnel Laroya, 35; Regie Gonato, 47; Randy Pilota, 40; and Tristan Gonato, 64. All were released Thursday afternoon after paying the fine.

But the fishing boat owned by Gonato was not returned since municipal ordinance states boats used in illegal fishing shall be confiscated.

Read: Boat operator charged for illegal fishing in Sta Fe

According to Villagonzales, the fishermen have the responsibility to know about the laws being implemented in the town. He said the Coast Guard and other concerned agencies have been consistent in informing the public about illegal fishing laws, especially to fishermen. This means it is less likely that these fishermen didn’t know about the ordinance.

“They know about these ordinances. But maybe it’s faster [to fish] this way. But it’s prohibited and it just so happened that the coast guard and police are always conducting seaborne patrol [so they got caught],” Villagonzales said in Bisaya.

Villagonzales said that this arrest serves as a reminder to the public to always follow the law even at sea to avoid complications on their livelihood. /bmjo