The total ban on “hulbot-hulbot,” a fishing vessel using Danish Seine fishing gear is among the issues to be discussed by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director  Asis Perez during the 4th Visayan Sea Summit set in Iloilo City tomorrow, a government press release said.

The use of the “hulbot-hulbot” is prohibited within a certain area as defined under Republic Act 8550 known as the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, the press release said.

But there is a plan to totally ban “hulbot-hulbot”, considering that it is “detrimental to the habitat of fishes and other aquatic resources.

Perez is also expected to tackle the BFAR policies on fishery law enforcement.

The summit will be attended by the governors of the four provinces surrounding the Visayan Sea, namely, Gov. Arthur Defensor, Sr. of Iloilo, Gov. Alfredo Marañon of Negros Occidental, Gov. Rizalina Seachon-Lañete of Masbate, and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu, the press release said.

Also invited as resource persons are Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department Director Dr. Joebert Toledo who will tackle their Research Outputs, and popular environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa who will give updates on Livelihood cum Marine Protected Areas.

The million-hectare Visayan Sea is a known sanctuary of 488 of the 500 endangered coral species and 12,000 species of seashells in the Philippines. It covers the territorial waters of northern Cebu, northeastern Iloilo, northern Negros and southern Masbate, the press release said.*

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