CEBU, Philippines — The rare presence of a huge school of fish, most likely sardines, stranded ashore at the South Road Properties is proof that the close season being implemented in the Visayan Sea is now bearing fruit, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas said.
“We are very happy to see that our interventions in protecting the marine life in the Visayan Sea have been successful,” said BFAR-7 Director Allan Poquita when sought for his comment on the video that captured the stranding of the fish.
In the video uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday evening, workers and nearby residents could be seen scooping some of the fish that were jumping in the shallow SRP waters.
The FREEMAN was able to talk to the video uploader, who said it was taken at the SRP towards the side of Cordova where the third bridge, the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, is currently being constructed.
The uploader said that the video was taken at around 11 p.m. on Jan. 26.
Poquita, however, appealed to the public.
“We would like to request to the people not to gather these fish because they are still juvenile. Because they are still small, they have limited swimming capabilities. Let us give these fish a chance to grow,” he said.
Nevertheless, the BFAR-7 chief said that even if these are still juvenile fish, they are fit for human consumption.
It can be recalled that the agency implemented a three-month close season in the Visayan Sea from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15. During this breeding season, fishermen are not allowed to catch and sell herrings, mackerels and sardines.
Sardines and herring are known in the Visayas as tamban or malalangsi and tuloy, respectively. Mackerel is called tamaro or anduhaw in the local dialect.
BFAR’s three-month close season aims to allow the protected species to spawn, for the young to grow, and for these species to increase in number for a sustainable fishery production.
The Visayan Sea is one of the largest fishing grounds in the country that has rich marine resources yet is faced with several threats because of destructive human activities such as dynamite fishing.
Poquita said that as the close season is about to end, people can expect similar sightings in Bantayan and San Remigio in northern Cebu, which are much closer to the Visayan Sea.
The Visayan Sea is the body of water surrounded by Central, Western, and Eastern Visayas provinces. It is bounded by the islands of Masbate to the north, Cebu and Negros to the south, Panay to the west and Leyte to the east. — JMD (FREEMAN)