Small fishers decry Carles town's fish policy
Small marginalized fishermen of Carles, Iloilo are now seeking for immediate provincial government intervention on a new fishery policy here.
Some three weeks into an all-out implementation, all fishing activities – fishing per se and selling of day's catch – are under Carles 'control.'
Fishermen in island villages reached over the weekend by The News Today (TNT) decry what they dubbed "communist-like" regulation. With allegedly no prior notice thus not enough preparation from their end, the fishers for weeks are literally left unable to meet ends meet.
38 year-old Elvis Calidades who hails from two generations of Carles fishers said his family has been suffering the most. A resident of island-Barangay Talingting, he and a companion were the latest 'victims' in a middle-of-the-sea arrest from a team of the town's "Bantay Dagat (Sea Guardians)."
Calidades said the town's sea patrol boat upon seeing his motorized banca (small fishing 'boat') approached and demanded for series of payments. The team said he owes the town P1,700. Either he pay right there and then or the team impounds his banca's engine. Calidades decided to pay up, went back to the island and borrowed all P1,700 from neighbors with a promise to pay once he returns from his fishing the next day.
Apparently the demand was made for new registration, new fishing license and to top it all, notification that whatever the day's catch was, all must be sold to Carles.
Talingting Island by location though is closest to the town proper of Estancia, Iloilo. Northern Iloilo fishers have since traded here where the district's biggest fishing port is located and fish brokers convene.
Calidades said the "Strictly for Carles only" policy poses at least three major problems for him and small fishers alike. First off, he said, buying price at his hometown is at P2,000 per fish bucket. Trading in Estancia is pegged at least P2,600. Secondly, travel back and forth to Carles entails him some 20 liters of gasoline for his banca. Travel back and forth to Estancia usually only takes up about 6 liters. And he was certain too that he was already way beyond the municipal waters. If the policy continues, Calidades fears that it would be the end of his fishing.
"How will I be able to put up with the expenses? Why can't we be allowed to sell wherever we want and get a decent price for our catch? We are just small fishers. We cannot compete with large fishing vessels. How can we feed our family when the money we get from our fish catch now is not even able to pay for our gasoline? And can we also just be made to pay once because we get blocked by several teams and made to pay fines we don't even understand," Calidades bewailed in local dialect.
TNT learned that another Talingting fisher lost all of his day's catch when arrested Friday. The demand was for him to sell all of his two fish buckets of day's catch back to Carles. However the long travel and wait for buyer eventually caused all two fish buckets to go stale.
Similar complaints from just about all Talingting fishermen. 39 year-old Diorly for his part said he has been fishing just about everyday at least the past 30 years. He does not understand the logic of forcing them to sell their catch at a farther distance and lower price. And he also wants to know what law allows that and what law makes them feel like criminals.
To date it is not clear what town regulation is used as basis for the arrests and "must sell only in Carles" policy. While a comprehensive fisheries code was passed here, said Ordinance awaits still the approval of the 9th Iloilo Sanggunian Panlalawigan (SP).