In fight vs illegal fishing, Canada’s air asset an ‘eye-opener’ – BFAR official
Throughout their 70-hour surveillance work in Philippine waters and the western Pacific, the team detected 88 potential illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing violations
Adopted from Rappler,
Story by Iya Gozum
Original article posted: rappler.com
MANILA, Philippines – The use of a Canadian air asset to find operators of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Philippine waters sped up and expanded detection of violators for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an official said on Monday, December 2.
Roy Ortega, officer-in-charge of the Fisheries Resources Management Division at BFAR, described the two-week joint aerial patrol using Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Dash-8 surveillance aircraft an “eye-opener” on what’s happening out at sea.
“Before, we were focused only on deploying surface assets and can only cover much and it’s very loose out in the sea,” Ortega told reporters in Pasay on Monday.
“With this air asset, we were able to cover vast expanse of maritime areas in [a] short span of time.”
IUU fishing is a global problem that concerns food, livelihood, and maritime security. It is linked to labor violations, overfishing, and exploitation of the environment.
Many commercial fishing operators get away with IUU by switching off their transponders– devices that help track vessels’ position and movement. They are often referred to as “dark vessels.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates financial losses due to IUU fishing to reach $23 billion.
Tracking fishing vessels at sea is a worldwide practice called the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The Philippines’ amended Fisheries Code requires commercial fishing vessels to comply with this system.
The mission is part of Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection project. (READ: What access to Canada’s dark vessel detection means for the Philippines)
Onboard the plane
The Dash-8 aircraft has several consoles which officers used to monitor fishing vessels’ location, time, and speed.
According to Ortega, seven BFAR officers joined Canadian flyers for Operation Bantay Lawud (which translates to ‘Sea Guardian’).
From Cebu, they flew over waters in Batanes and reached up to Mati-Matihan, the high seas adjacent to the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
In their 70-hour surveillance work, the team found 88 potential violations. The team detected 34 violations in the Visayan Sea, which is supposed to be a closed area to help replenish stocks.
“From our statistics, there are more or less 600 commercial fishing boats registered in the area,” said Ortega. The BFAR official said that the 34 violators they found during the aerial patrol were “not supposed to be there.”
Using the inverse synthetic-aperture radar, the surveillance team can generate a two-dimensional image of the target vessel.
“We can see the profile of the vessel, so we can tell if it’s large [or] small,” John Boyce, sensor operations manager at PAL Aerospace, told reporters inside the aircraft.
“We can tell what type of vessel it is. We see a vessel that’s not broadcasting its navigational information. We call it a dark target, and that’s a target of interest to us,” Boyce further explained.
The mission finished in Manila on Sunday, December 1.
Into the high seas
Meanwhile, Canada’s surveillance work in the high seas in the western Pacific (where officers from BFAR were not included) showed “a high number” of violations, said Sean Wheeler, an officer from DFO.
“This is an area that doesn’t have a lot of traditional enforcement assets available,” said Wheeler.
“That’s part of the reason why we’re here and we’re working really closely with BFAR to get more surveillance assets out there to understand the fishery more, understand the levels of IUU, and effectively to – in the end – deter IUU fishing from happening,” he added.
Detecting IUU in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as well as the western Pacific, is of “primordial importance” to Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy, said Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines David Hartman.
Hartman said these activities could “generate a greater sense of awareness of the breadth and scope of activities taking place” in Philippine waters and adjacent high seas.
Learn more about PAL Aerospace’s contracted special missions>>