ILOILO CITY - The closed-door "heart-to-heart" dialog among commercial fishing boat operators and the Visayan Sea Squadron for the proposed five-year close season declaration over the Visayan Sea raised even more questions but attempted to reconcile conflicting views between the parties involved.

"We are not here to fight but to make friends," lawyer Antonio Oposa, one of the founders of the Visayan Sea Squadron, told a select group of commercial fishermen from Iloilo and Negros Occidental who gathered in a hotel here on the invitation by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources that played mediator to the VSS and the fishers.

Oposa, chair of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' National Environmental Action Plan and an author of two books on the environment, said the "rule of law" must be upheld in protecting "what we love." He pointed out that their proposal intends to "regenerate" the Visayan Sea that has been depleted by a combination of over-fishing and the use of "destructive illegal means" like cyanide and blast-fishing.

He, however, faced opposing views from the fishing boat operators who said they feel "harassed" and are being treated "like criminals." "We should not assert only unto ourselves the desire to protect (the Visayan Sea)," Ernesto Lim, an Iloilo-based fishing boat operator said as he raised questions over allegations about funding for the Visayan Sea project.

While other nations "offer grants, there are strings attached" and it is time that "we should also protect our people," he said.

Lim, who is also a lawyer, said there should be "consideration" for others as he described the use of the word closure as "an unfriendly term" since no alternative is being offered should commercial fishing operations be stopped.

With fishing boat operators already reeling from high operational costs and piracy in the high seas, some of them pointed out that a closure would deal a fatal blow to the industry upon which thousands are dependent across the region. A representative of a Negros commercial fishing boat operator who asked not to be named told Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod that the closure would not only affect them but also Negrosanons who are still dependent on a rice-and-fish diet.

"(Commercial fishers) can still fish elsewhere, like Palawan, if they want, but how about the ordinary people who would be affected by the closure since supply would drop and prices would rise?" he asked.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics had reported earlier that the more than 2.5 million people in Negros Occidental alone consume an annual average of 81.1 million kilos of fish with commercial fishing contributing an average annual supply of at least a third, or 32.8 million kilos from 1998-2005. BFAR regional chief Drucila Ong, who moderated the meeting, said fish production for 2004 to 2005 were in the negative although she did not give any figures.

Another Iloilo fisher, Jun Borres, said that in the end it would "boil down to food security and employment" as he cited the case of SAL Fishing, once the largest fishing boat operator in Negros that was forced to lay off hundreds of employees after grounding its Group 1 and 2 fleets.

Lawyer and VSS volunteer Herman Teodosio refuted the claims, however, and told Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod that if the reason against the closure is food security, then the approval of the proposal becomes all the more urgent.

"Restocking of the Visayan Sea is needed because what was once the richest in the world has now become badly depleted," he said.

Teodosio, who owns a beach resort in Carles town, Iloilo province, said he was witness to the miserable state of the Visayan Sea during his snorkel diving when he saw corals being crushed by commercial fishing methods on top of illegal means like cyanide and blast-fishing.

"People in Carles say it was super hulbots that did it although I cannot categorically blame it only on commercial fishing," he said.

It was way back in 1991 and 1992 that experts said the corals can still be saved but now, 14 years later, I am not so sure if corals can still regenerate even if a close season is declared, Teodosio added.

A Web-published article said the Visayan Sea was once the richest in the world. Fish species and other marine life found in only a square mile of the Visayan Sea are even more than that in the entire Caribbean Sea.

Teodosio said only "secondary catch" like squids sustain the local populace in Carles who were once enjoying a bountiful catch. And if food security would be affected with the closure, it would be more so if no steps are taken to restock the Visayan Sea.

He also pointed out that should commercial fishing be temporarily stopped, this would benefit subsistence fishermen who would experience an increase in their harvest.

Statistics from the BAS earlier showed that the contribution of commercial fishing had been going down since 2001 to last year.

From 33,579 metric tons in 1998, it increased to 36,326 MTs in 1999; 37,242 MTs in 2000; went down to 32,408 MTs in 2001; 31,405 MTs in 2002; went up again to 32,153 MTs in 2003 and was down successively to 29,688 MTs and 29,639 MTs in 2004 and 2005, respectively.*

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