QuestionsQuestions (Commonwealth Act No. 471)
Under Section 4(a) of CA 471, the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce shall issue instructions, orders, rules and regulations consistent with the Act to carry its provisions into effect. Licenses, permits, leases, and contracts issued under the Act are subject to the same.
No. Section 4(a) provides that all ordinances, rules, or regulations pertaining to fishing or fisheries promulgated by provincial boards, municipal boards/councils, or municipal district councils must be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce for approval.
Section 5(a) makes certain persons deputies (e.g., Philippine Constabulary members, municipal police, secret service force members, customs guards/wharfagers, internal-revenue agents, coast guard officers, lighthouse keepers, and others designated in writing by the Secretary). They have full power to enforce the Act and related regulations, arrest offenders, and administer oaths/take testimony.
Section 12(a) prohibits using dynamite or other explosives to stupefy, disable, kill, or take fish or other aquatic animals, and prohibits underwater use “except in the execution of bona fide engineering work” and destruction of wrecks/obstructions to navigation. It also bars gathering fish by means of animals stupefied/disabled/killed by explosives.
Yes. Section 12(a) allows use of mechanical bombs for killing whales, crocodiles, sharks, or other large dangerous fishes subject to approval of both the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior, and only for limited scientific purposes.
Section 12(a) states that possession and/or finding of dynamite, blasting caps, and other explosives in any fishing boat constitutes a presumption they are being used for fishing in violation of the prohibition. It further provides that possession/discovery of fish caught/killed by explosives, under expert testimony, creates a presumption the owner (if present) or the fishing crew used explosives for fishing.
Section 13(a) generally prohibits taking/catching fry or fish eggs and small fish (including siliniasi) not more than three centimeters long in Philippine territorial waters, except for scientific or educational purposes or for propagation. It also allows taking of the young of certain species known as ipon subject to restrictions.
Section 14 makes unlawful placing/causing placement/discharge/deposit of various harmful materials into Philippine waters, including petroleum, acid, coal, oil tar, lampblack, aniline, asphalt/bitumen/residuary petroleum products, molasses, mining/mill tailings and factory refuse, and other deleterious substances to fish or aquatic life.
Section 15(a) requires importation/exportation of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians, other aquatic animals, and fish eggs to be effected only through a special permit from the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce. Applications must be filed at least 20 days before probable arrival (or 5 days before export) and include a permit fee and inspection/prophylactic treatment fee.
Section 21(a) provides that licenses issued under Section 18 do not operate within three nautical miles from shore line and from 200 meters of any fish coral licensed by a municipality under Section 69, except if the licensee is the same person authorized by the municipality to operate that fish coral.
Section 22(a) requires no person shall be employed/engaged on or in connection with operation of a vessel of more than three tons gross for commercial fishing unless they have a fisherman's license. The license is limited to citizens of the Philippines or of the United States or of countries granting similar rights. Aliens already engaged at the time of enactment may be licensed so long as they have not violated the Act or customs laws/regulations.
Section 23(a) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce to fix fees for fish caught from not less than one peso to not more than three pesos per ton (gross weight), and to prescribe the manner of collection. It requires only one fee to be collected and states the regulations should not interfere with free movement and disposition of lawfully caught fish. Non-payment subjects the licensee to 100% surcharges.
Section 2 adds definitions. A ‘fish coral’ or ‘baclad’ is a stationary weir/trap intercepting and capturing fish, made of rows/stakes/bamboo or palma brava or similar materials forming fences with one or more enclosures, usually with easy entrance but difficult exit, with split bamboo mattings or wire nettings, sometimes with leaders guiding fish to chambers.
Section 38(a) generally prohibits collecting/gathering sponges, seaweeds, or other minor aquatic products from sea bottom or reefs in territorial waters, except as provided in the article. Gathering seaweeds, trepang, corals, or other minor products (except sponges and certain species of genus degenea for personal use inside concessions) may be allowed if the daily amount does not exceed five kilograms.
Section 42(a) provides concessions run for not more than twenty years. They must not interfere with free passage over the concession area and must not prevent unrestricted gathering/removal by others of products not specifically stated in the contract/license. It also allows selection of offshore areas for government experiments/schools subject to confirmation by the Secretary.
Under Section 73-A, the Secretary may set aside portions of municipal waters as communal fisheries for inhabitants of a municipality/municipal district. A communal fishery once established for communal use shall not be leased.
Section 73-C allows residents of a place for which no communal fishery has been set aside to take, without license and free of charge, fish or other fishery products they need for personal purposes from any municipal waters.