Creation and Powers of Fisheries Commission

Creation and supervision of Commission

Section 2 creates an office known as the Philippine Fisheries Commission.
Section 2 places the Commission under the direct control and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Leadership, appointments, and organization

Section 3 provides that the Commission has a Chief called Commissioner.
Section 3 provides that the Commission has two assistants called Deputy Commissioners.
Section 3 requires that the President appoints the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 3 sets salary ranges: Commissioner at 68 and Deputy Commissioners at 62, following the salary pattern of the Wage and Position Classification Office (WAPCO).
Section 3 empowers the Commissioner, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to organize divisions, sections, and units for maximum operational efficiency.
Section 3 allows the Commissioner to establish and maintain field offices and stations in the Philippines as needed to carry out the Act’s purposes.

Advisory committee and private sector per diem

Section 3 creates an advisory committee on fishery and allied matters.
Section 3 sets the advisory committee as chaired by the Commissioner, with the two Deputy Commissioners and four private-sector members engaged in deep-sea fishing, fish culture, fish processing, and allied industries.
Section 3 limits private-sector members’ compensation to a per diem not exceeding twenty pesos for each meeting actually attended.
Section 3 limits the advisory committee meetings to not more than twice each month.

Core powers, duties, and functions

Section 4 gives the Commissioner authority to supervise and control management, development, production, occupancy, demarcation, protection, and utilization of:
- national and municipal fisheries,
- public fishery reserves, and
- fishery reservations.
Section 4 authorizes the Commissioner to issue, in accordance with law, licenses or permits for the removal or taking of aquatic products.
Section 4 allows the Commissioner to suspend or revoke such licenses or permits for cause.
Section 4 requires the Commissioner to carry out the Act and Act Numbered Four thousand three, as amended (the Fisheries Act), including all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and all other laws on supervision, administration, and disposition of aquatic resources.
Section 4 empowers conservation and resource-building through:
- studying the life cycle of fishes,
- establishing fish hatcheries, nurseries, and demonstration fishponds,
- intensifying fish stocking in inland waters, and
- protecting spawning or breeding grounds.
Section 4 requires studies on fishing practices and methods for protection of aquatic resources, economical operation, and prevention of waste, and mandates dissemination through bulletins or circulars and economic maps.
Section 4 authorizes demonstration services to acquaint the public with methods and trends of modern fishery practices.
Section 4 directs oceanographical and limnological surveys and exploration of fishing areas and banks in the Philippines and international waters to expand fishing operations.

Regulation-making and enforcement authority

Section 4 requires the Commissioner to prepare and execute, upon approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, forms, instructions, rules, and regulations consistent with the Act’s purpose and for development of fisheries.
Section 4 authorizes the Commissioner to make arrests personally or through duly authorized representatives in accordance with Rule One hundred nine of the Rules of Court of the Philippines.
Section 4 authorizes the Commissioner to make searches and seizures personally or through duly authorized representatives in accordance with the Rules of Court of the Philippines, including seizure of:
- explosives such as blasting caps, dynamites, and the like,
- fish poison and poisoned or dynamited fish,
- fishery products,
- fishing equipment, tackle, and other things subject to seizure under existing fishery laws.
Section 4 authorizes the Commissioner to administer oaths, receive affidavits, issue subpoenas, and take testimonies in official investigations, personally or through duly authorized representatives.
Section 4 directs the Commissioner to investigate the nature, organization, and resources of any or all fishery business.

Fishery technical services, training, and surveys

Section 4 authorizes the Commissioner to provide technical assistance and advisory services to fishing boat operators on proper construction, operation, rigging, appropriate gear, equipment, and other devices for deep-sea fishing.
Section 4 allows establishment of regional, city, provincial, and municipal fisheries stations to facilitate practical training of fishermen using modern fishing gear and devices.
Section 4 authorizes experiments and tests related to fishing activities and suitability and modification of foreign fisheries methods in the Philippines for commercial adoption.
Section 4 empowers implementation of enforcement of existing fishery laws on illegal fishing.
Section 4 authorizes admeasurement and inspection of safety devices, boilers, and fishing gear and certification to support loans from the Development Bank of the Philippines or other government banking/financing institutions.
Section 4 requires loan-related certification to be issued only upon payment of a fee determined by the Commissioner, capped at not exceeding twenty pesos.

Loans-related certification and market assistance

Section 4 requires the Commissioner’s certification of swamp lands’ suitability or fitness for fishpond purposes as a requirement for obtaining loans from the Development Bank of the Philippines or any other government banking and/or financing institutions.
Section 4 provides that the fee for swamp land suitability certification is determined by the Commissioner but capped at not exceeding twenty pesos.
Section 4 authorizes assistance to private persons or entities in procuring fishing equipment, supplies, and fishing boats.
Section 4 authorizes assistance to private parties in proper distribution or marketing of catch through establishment of a central fish market, fish piers, ice plants, and cold storage in strategic fishing centers determined by the Commissioner.

Information services and deep-sea fisheries development

Section 4 requires the Commissioner to maintain an information service disseminating practical information and pertinent data on research findings, studies, observations, and rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources for people in the industry.
Section 4 authorizes the Commissioner to perform other related functions that promote development and exploitation of deep-sea fisheries in the Philippines.
Section 4 requires oceanographical and limnological surveys and exploration of fishing areas and banks for necessary expansion of fishing operations.

Transfer of customs/navy/constabulary fisheries functions

Section 5 transfers to and vests in the Philippine Fisheries Commission all powers, functions, and duties previously exercised by the Bureau of Customs, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Constabulary over fishing vessels and fishery matters.
Section 5 transfers all corresponding records and documents kept in the custody of the Commission.
Section 5 requires the Commissioner or authorized representatives to collect all fees and charges on fishing vessels previously collected by the Bureau of Customs.

Administrative and criminal penalties for violations

Section 6 imposes an administrative fine of not more than one thousand pesos or cancellation of permit or license at the Commissioner’s discretion for any person, partnership, or corporation that violates any provision of the Act or rules and regulations promulgated under it.
Section 6 provides that decisions rendered by the Commissioner are appealable to the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, whose decision is final.
Section 6 provides penalties for failure or refusal to comply with the Commission’s legal summons, refusal to be sworn for testimony, or giving or furnishing false or misleading information, or causing another to mislead in an investigation pursuant to subsection (k) of Section four:
- a fine not exceeding five hundred pesos, or
- imprisonment not exceeding six months, or
- both,
  to be imposed at the discretion of the court.
Section 6 requires that if false information or misleading data are given under oath, the penalties prescribed by law for perjury apply.

Abolition of Bureau of Fisheries and transfer of personnel

Section 7 abolishes the Bureau of Fisheries.
Section 7 transfers to the Philippine Fisheries Commission all personnel, records, appropriations, property, and equipment located in Bureau divisions, sections, or services actually identified with carrying out fisheries work.
Section 7 prohibits laying off any official or employee of the Bureau of Fisheries in implementing the transfer and abolition.

Repeal and continuity of appropriations

Section 8 repeals Republic Act Numbered One hundred seventy-seven and all other acts, orders, regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Act.
Section 9 appropriates ten million pesos out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated to carry out the Act during the fiscal year ending June, nineteen hundred sixty-four.
Section 9 requires that thereafter the necessary amount for the same purpose be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Effectivity

Section 10 provides that the Act takes effect upon its approval.
The Act was approved on March 20, 1963.