BFAR: China's new regulation will not affect supply of fish
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) believe that China's new regulation to detain foreign trespassers will not have an impact on the supply of fish in the country.
"In terms of production, yes, the contribution of the West Philippine Sea is significant in terms of our national fishing production but we don't see that unilateral declaration of China would actually create impact in terms of our production because first and foremost we don't recognize this declaration," Nazario Briguera, BFAR spokesman said on Tuesday.
Briguera said as of Tuesday morning they haven't received any report about China's apprehension of Filipino fishermen since they started to implement their new regulation on Saturday.
"So far, we haven't received a report that they have arrested our fishermen and if there is it is a new provocation on the side of China and it can be considered as another violation of the International Law particularly the UNCLOS," he said.
"The Filipino fishermen will continue their fishing activities in the West Philippines Sea because it is part of our territorial water within our exclusive economic zone," he added.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard Spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea said the monitored number of Filipino fishermen in Scarborough Shoal increased to 10 from three boats recorded last Friday.
"On the first day of our deployment, we were able to monitor three Filipino fishing boats in Bajo de Masinloc. Eventually, it increased to six. This morning it increased to 10. Currently there are ten Filipino fishing boats conducting fishing activities in Bajo de Masinloc," he said.
Tarriela also noted that since Saturday, there has been no significant increase in the number of Chinese vessels in the area. Ten Chinese vessels were monitored in the area the other day.
"This is actually lesser than the usual number of the China Coast Guard deployed there because usually there are four China Coast Guard and more than 10 Maritime Militia. My argument here is that, if China is really serious in enforcing this regulation of the China Coast Guard, they should have increased the number of the China Coast Guard. We witnessed how fast they can deploy their assets during the Atin Ito convoy," he said.
"China is just using that new regulation as an empty threat to discourage our fishermen and of course, (and) the civil society," he added. Robina Asido/DMS
