PAMALAKAYA: Scarborough fishers’ income down 60% amid China's ‘fishing ban’

Fishers near Scarborough Shoal are losing 60% of their income amid China's fishing ban in the South China Sea including parts of the West Philippine Sea, according to a group on Wednesday.

Citing “mother boat” operators in Subic, Zambales, PAMALAKAYA said fishers’ income decreased from P10,000 to now just less than P4,000 every fishing trip near Scarborough or Panatag Shoal.

“The presence of Chinese vessels has intensified since our territorial waters have been placed under a fishing moratorium,” PAMALAKAYA-Zambales provincial coordinator Joey Marabe said in a statement.

“While we don’t experience direct untoward incidents with these huge vessels, their overwhelming presence effectively impedes our regular fishing activities,” he added.

To check the effects of China's fishing ban in other provinces, PAMALAKAYA is coordinating with fisherfolk operators and associations in Pangasinan and La Union.

PAMALAKAYA called on the Marcos administration to provide for the needs of fishermen affected by China's fishing ban.

“Halos isang buwan na mula nang ideklara ng China ang walang batayan nitong fishing ban, subalit hindi pa namin maramdaman ang administrasyon ni Marcos Jr. na kamustahin man lamang ang mga mangingisda, lalo pa ang pagbibigay ng suporta sa kanilang kabuhayan,” PAMALAKAYA vice chairperson Ronnel Arambulo said.

(It's been almost a month since China declared its baseless fishing ban but we still can't feel the Marcos Jr. administration checking on the fishermen, let alone give support to their livelihood.)

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier protested China's fishing ban as it violated international law and undermined the country's sovereignty and maritime rights.

Manila said it does not recognize China’s May 1 to September 16 fishing moratorium because it included Manila's maritime zones over which the Philippines has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

"The Philippines called on China to cease and desist from the conduct of illegal actions that violate the Philippines' sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in its maritime zones," the DFA had said.

It also urged China to "comply with its obligations under international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award; and adhere to its commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea."

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Manila calls parts of the waters within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that China's claims over the South China Sea has no legal basis, a decision Beijing does not recognize. --VAL, GMA Integrated News