Fishers ask PCG to bar Taiwanese from illegal fishing in Batanes
An alleged Taiwanese vessel was spotted illegally fishing in Batanes waters this week, based on photos taken by local fisherman Rodel Gutierrez.
Batanes is located approximately 150 kilometers from Taiwan’s southernmost tip.
The vessel Kai Shyang with vessel number BK-8312 was spotted near Mavulis Island in Batanes on Wednesday, Gutierrez told the Inquirer.
Mavulis is an island in Batanes, the northernmost Philippine province closest to Taiwan.
In 2019, the military built a concrete shelter in Mavulis to provide safe refuge for fishermen and soldiers as the province combats illegal fishing in the country’s northern fishing grounds.
Gutierrez said he and his companions observed the presence of foreign vessels illegally fishing in Batanes in the last two weeks.
“They even went close to the vicinity of Basco to fish,” he said in Filipino, referring to the capital town of the province.
“They are already invading our islands,” he added.
According to him, about six foreign poachers were seen fishing on the Kai Shyang vessel near Mavulis and Dinem Island on Wednesday.
He lamented the lack of law enforcement in Batanes waters, which has encouraged foreign fishers to conduct illegal fishing in Batanes waters over the years.
“They are making our waters their fishing ground because there is no action done to apprehend them,” he said.
According to him, foreign poachers have been doing this in Batanes for more than five years.
“Will we still have fish to catch?” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday. “Why can’t you do your sworn duty?” he added, supposedly referring to law enforcers.
But in the past few years, authorities arrested Taiwanese and Chinese poachers in Batanes.
Reached for comment, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Algier Ricafrente said that PCG would look into the matter, while the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources did not also respond to the Inquirer’s request for comment.
