Even as the government continuously implements a three-month ban on sardine fishing every year, the sardines industry in Zamboanga still ended up growing P20 billion, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said. The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has formally lifted the fishing closed season for sardines in the waters off Zamboanga peninsula midnight of March 1, 2018.

Miraflor, M. B. (2018, March 6). BFAR lifts sardine fishing ban in Zamboanga waters. Manila Bulletin, p. B-9.