BFAR lifts 3-month Palawan galunggong fishing ban

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) announced on Tuesday that it lifted the three-month closed fishing season on round scad or galunggong in northeastern Palawan.

Citing the report of the National Stock Assessment Program of Region IV-B, the BFAR said the implementation of the three-month ban “continually yielded significant positive results in the production of galunggong in the area.”

According to the report, the catch estimates of galunggong caught by purse seine increased from 402.14 MT in 2016 to 653.66 MT in 2019, while galunggong caught by ring net increased from 170.97 MT to 285.32 MT in the same period.

“This simply reinforces our firm decision to continue the implementation of the annual closed fishing season in the country’s major fishing grounds,” DA-BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona said in a statement.

Gongona said the BFAR would also integrate the seasonal ban “in our holistic measures to fisheries management as part of the ‘One DA’ approach.”

According to the agency, two fishing vessels were caught violating the three-month closed fishing season.

The closed fishing season was initiated in 2015 to protect and replenish galunggong during its peak spawning season and regulate its fishing in Palawan from November to January every year. — DVM, GMA News