The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) failed by a wide margin to meet its P1-billion annual target for fines collected in connection with illegal fishing activities, a Senate panel was told. BFAR National Director Eduardo B. Gongona said collections average P14 million a year over the last two years in connection with activities to discourage Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF), though he claimed that the deterrent effect of the BFAR’s operations has depressed collections. He did not provide more detailed data. “Reduced collections from fisheries apprehension indicate that… those who do illegal fishing are too scared to come out,” he told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the hearing.

Mogato, A. G. A. (2018, March 20).Senate panel grills BFAR over missed targets on illegal fishing, incomplete data. BusinessWorld, p. S1/4.