Illegal fishing in Eastern Visayas rampant — BFAR

TACLOBAN CITY — An official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Office here has revealed the continued rampant illegal fishing activities in the seas of Region 8 (Eastern Visayas).

TALAKAYAN SA BUDGET HOTEL Edmark Kristopher Petallana of BFAR-8 (with microphone) reports the rampant illegal fishing in Eastern Visayas during the ‘Talakayan sa Budget Hotel’ forum in Tacloban City on March 22, 2025. Others in photo are Julius Caballes of BFAR-8, Myla Macadawan of the National Maritime Polytechnic, and Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders president Miriam Desacada-Maderazo (right). PHOTO BY NESTOR L. ABREMATEA

Speaking at the weekly forum Talakayan sa Budget Hotel of the Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders at Tacloban Budget Hotel in Sagkahan District on Saturday, March 22, Edmar Kristopher Petallana, BFAR-8 Enforcement and Regional Control and Surveillance Office chief, said the rampant illegal fishing is a big challenge they face.

Petallana said the rampant illegal fishing activities are at the Samar seas and the Leyte Gulf being the rich fishing grounds of Eastern Visayas.

"Generally there is still big problem of illegal fishing in our major fishing grounds. These are at the Samar seas and the Leyte Gulf made by big commercial fishing vessels," revealed Petallana.

"The problem we face is our budget for enforcement had been cut for the past two years by the national government. Majority of the commercial fishers are doing their illegal fishing there," added Petallana.

Petallana said a major problem they face are the commercial fishing in the municipal waters of Leyte and Samar as they are prohibited to conduct fishing from within 15 meters of the municipal waters.

He called on the local government units to intensify their campaign against illegal fishing in their area of jurisdiction.

Petallana added that based on their data since February 2025, they have filed 303 administrative cases and other criminal cases and assisted the Philippine Maritime Police and local government units in prosecuting illegal fishers apprehended by them.

He, however, failed to provide data on the rate of conviction or names involved.

Eastern Visayas are composed of the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar, Biliran and Samar.

The BFAR-8 also reported that the red tide problem in the bays of Eastern Visayas will continue to exist and a big challenge to them as it could no longer solve the bays of Leyte and Samar because the toxins are already there.