The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has rolled out a campaign against the illegal importation of fish, particularly diverted frozen fish authorized only for canning, processing, and institutional buyers.
The campaign dubbed “Imported na Isda sa Merkado, Pwede Kapag Awtorisado” comes after the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued a special order directing the importation of 25,000 metric tons of frozen small pelagic fish amid a closed fishing season that had started this November and ends on January next year.
“As the government allows fish importation anew in order to fill in the supply gap while our conservation measures are in place and keep the prices of our fish commodities in the retail markets stable, the DA-BFAR conducts this IEC [Information, Education, and Communication] Campaign that will help safeguard the livelihood of our local fishers and prevent competition between our local and imported fish products,” DA-BFAR officer-in-charge Demosthenes Escoto said in a statement issued Thursday.
He said only the fish imported through the aforementioned special order are allowed to be sold in the wet market.
As per the agriculture department’s issuance, the imported fish allowed are round scad, bigeye scad, mackerel, bonito, and moonfish.
The inspection started on Thursday, Nov. 24, where BFAR officials discovered imported fish like salmon, pampano, and squids being sold in a wet market on Commonwealth, Quezon City.
BFAR officials target to conduct inspection and monitoring in 21 wet markets across Metro Manila until Dec. 3.
Apart from this activity, Escoto said they are also implementing the issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSIC) for registered importers to “dissuade and prevent attempts of diversion and other importation-related violations.”
“The Bureau is also set on intensifying its control measures on importation such as strengthening border control through seaport/airport and cold storage warehouse inspections, including mandatory X-ray inspection of all reefer vans, and deployment of additional personnel for the first and second borders inspection,” Escoto said.
