Fisheries laws and regulations consolidation

Policy objectives and key principles

Section 2 declares State policy to accelerate and promote the integrated development of the fishery industry and to keep fishery resources in optimum productive condition through proper conservation and protection.
Section 2 directs government promotion of the organization of, assistance to, and integration of activities of persons, associations, cooperatives, and corporations engaged in the industry.
Section 2 establishes that the fishery industry is a preferred area of investment.
Section 2 provides that the private sector’s privilege to utilize a fishery resource must be exercised on the basic concept that grantees, licensees, and permittees are active partners in conservation and development of fishery resources.
Section 2 provides that government shall encourage and promote exportation of fish and fishery/aquatic products for positive contribution to national economic development.

Core definitions and covered waters

Section 3 defines the Bureau as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Section 3 defines Closed season as a period during which fishing is prohibited in specified areas or during which the catching/gathering of specified species or the use of specified fishing gears is prohibited.
Section 3 defines Commercial fishing as fishing for commercial purposes in waters more than seven fathoms deep using fishing boats more than three gross tons.
Section 3 defines Electro fishing as the use of electricity generated by dry-cell batteries, electric generators, or other sources of electric power to kill, stupefy, disable, or render unconscious fish or fishery/aquatic products in both fresh and salt water areas.
Section 3 defines Philippine waters as all bodies of water within Philippine territory, including rivers, streams, ponds, bays and seas, and other waters now existing or that may exist in provinces, cities, municipalities, municipal districts, and barrios, and also the sea or fresh water around, between, and connecting the Philippine islands, irrespective of depth, breadth, length, and dimension, and waters belonging to the Philippines by historic or legal title, including territorial sea, seabed, insular shelves, and other submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction.
Section 3 defines Municipal waters to include:
- streams, lakes, and tidal waters within the municipality not subject to private ownership and not comprised within national parks, public forests, timber lands, forest reserves, or fishery reserves; and
- marine waters between two lines drawn perpendicular to the general coastline from points where the municipal boundary touches the sea at low tide and a third line parallel to the general coastline three nautical miles from such coastline; and
- where two municipalities are on opposite shores with less than six nautical miles between them, the third line is equi-distant from the opposite shores.
Section 3 provides a jurisdiction rule: disputes on freshwater lakes not within a municipality or on freshwater/tidal streams forming boundaries between municipalities are referred by the concerned municipal councils to the provincial board.
Section 3 defines Fishing boat to include all boats (bancas, sailboats, motor boats, or other watercraft), whether licensed or not, used for fishing purposes, including a boat used for transporting fish during the course of fishing operations.
Section 3 defines Persons to include juridical entities such as associations, partnerships, cooperatives, or corporations.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources powers

Section 4 establishes that the Bureau has jurisdiction and responsibility over management, conservation, development, protection, utilization, and disposition of all fishery and aquatic resources of the country except municipal waters, which are under the municipal or city government concerned.
Section 4 provides that fish pens and seaweed culture in municipal centers are under the Bureau’s jurisdiction.
Section 4 requires that all municipal or city ordinances and resolutions affecting fishing and fisheries and any disposition thereunder have full force and effect only upon approval of the Secretary; otherwise, they are submitted for appropriate action.
Section 4 gives the Bureau authority to regulate and supervise the production, capture, and gathering of fish and fishery/aquatic products.
Section 4 directs the Bureau to prepare and implement, upon approval of the Fishery Industry Development Council, a Fishery Industry Development Program.
Section 5 places the Bureau directly under the control and supervision of the Secretary of Natural Resources.
Section 6 provides that actions and decisions of the Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are subject to review:
- motu propio, or
- upon appeal by any aggrieved person,
  by the Secretary, whose decision is final and executory after thirty (30) days from receipt by the aggrieved party, unless appealed to the President under Executive Order No. 19, series of 1966.
Section 6 states that court review of the Secretary’s decision is only through certiorari and prohibition as a special civil action.

Regulation, program rules, and landing points

Section 7 requires the Secretary to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the Decree, upon recommendation of the Director.
Section 7 provides that implementing rules and regulations take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official Gazette and/or two newspapers of general circulation, unless otherwise provided.
Section 8 authorizes the Bureau to undertake or arrange special technical assistance and training programs, and to provide assistance to fishery educational institutions in research and instruction, including maintaining and operating fishing.
Section 9 directs the Bureau to conduct fishery research and studies, establish fish hatcheries, nurseries, and demonstration fishfonds, conduct experiment and demonstration services on capture and culture/processing, conduct oceanographic and limnological surveys, and disseminate results.
Section 10 requires the Bureau to determine and designate fish landing points where all commercial fishing boats must land and unload their catch.
Section 10 provides that fish landing points established prior to effectivity are considered authorized; it also allows closure of any landing point if circumstances warrant.
Section 11 creates new Bureau divisions: Legal Division, Fisheries Conservation and Enforcement Division, Fisheries Extension Division, Fisheries Utilization Division, Fisheries Engineering Division, and Fisheries Training Division, to be staffed by qualified personnel as first priority; additional staffing is proposed through the Bureau’s appropriation for the succeeding year.

Fishery Industry Development Council

Section 12 creates a Fishery Industry Development Council to implement the policy in Section 2.
Section 12 establishes the Council composition, with the Secretary of Natural Resources as Chairman and members including the Secretaries of Agriculture, National Defense, Trade, Public Works, Transportation and Communications, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairmen of the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Board of Investments, the President of the Philippine National Bank, and the Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources as Member and Executive Officer.
Section 12 includes private-sector representation: an inland fisheries association representative and a marine fisheries association representative, each appointed for a term of two (2) years by the Secretary upon recommendation of the Director.
Section 12 requires the Council to be constituted upon effectivity and to meet at least once a month; the Chairman may convene special meetings for urgent matters.
Section 12 provides that if the Chairman cannot attend, members present select a temporary presiding officer; if any member cannot attend, that member sends a duly authorized representative.
Section 13 directs the Council to formulate comprehensive policy guidelines for management, protection, conservation, utilization of fishery/aquatic resources, and to create a healthy investment climate; it must collate data and information from member agencies and the private sector.
Section 14 provides that the Council has a secretariat with a Secretariat Director appointed by the Chairman (with compensation fixed by the Chairman) and secretariat personnel appointed with compensation fixed by the Chairman upon recommendation of the Secretariat Director.
Section 15 assigns roles to member-agencies and the private sector, including:
- Central Bank of the Philippines (Monetary Board) responsibility to finance requirements of the Program by coordinating bank/financial institution credit policies for the fishery industry, facilitating preferential rediscounting of papers involving fishery industry loans, and facilitating concessionary interest rates on loans upon certification by the Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources;
- Department of National Defense (through Philippine Coast Guard) to extend assistance including personnel and equipment for enforcement;
- Department of Agriculture to undertake soil sampling and provide or help provide fertilizers for fish farming and perform other functions imposed by law or requested by the Council;
- Department of Trade to plan and prepare measures to promote exports and perform other Council-requested functions imposed by law;
- Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communications to, upon Council request, undertake site surveys, investigate, draw plans, and construct infrastructure facilities for the fishery industry and perform other Council-requested functions imposed by law;
- the private sector to direct collective efforts toward cooperation/coordination with government agencies, accelerate development, conduct research/experiments with government agencies, allow government implementing agencies access to statistical data needed for policy formulation, and participate in technical manpower training through on-the-job training for apprentices, trainees, and volunteers in collaboration with the Bureau and other government agencies.
Section 12 charges the Executive Officer with implementing Council policies and guidelines.

Licensing, permits, and eligibility rules

Section 16 prohibits exploitation, occupation, production/culture, capture/gathering of fish or fishery/aquatic products, including fry or fingerling, and any fishery activity in Philippine municipal waters without a license, lease, or permit.
Section 16 authorizes the Secretary, upon recommendation of the Director, to fix a fair and reasonable price for fry and fingerling of any species when destruction to fishponds/fishpens/fish nurseries by typhoons/floods/fortuitous events or speculation/monopolistic/pernicious practices may cause supply to fall below usual demand and increase price.
Section 16 requires that fixed prices guarantee fry gatherers a just and equitable return for their labor.
Section 16 authorizes the Secretary, when necessary, to fix different price levels for various areas or regions considering availability, accessibility to transportation facilities, and packing/crating.
Section 16 provides that any administrative order implementing the price-fixing authority takes effect immediately, notwithstanding Section 7.
Section 17 prohibits operation of a commercial fishing boat, pearl fishing boat, or fishing boat for scientific/research/educational purposes, engaging in any fishery activity, or seeking employment as a fisherman without securing a license from the Bureau.
Section 17 exempts a special permit requirement for fishing boats engaged in scientific/research/educational purposes within Philippine waters pursuant to an international agreement where the Philippines is a signatory and where the agreement defines the status, privileges, obligations of the boat and crew, and non-Filipino officials of the international agency.
Section 17 provides that crew members on commercial fishing boats, including licensed and/or authorized patrons, marine engineers, radio operators, and cooks, are considered fisherman.
Section 17 limits the commercial fishing boat license: it allows operation only in Philippine waters seven (7) or more fathoms deep, subject to conditions stated in the license and rules promulgated by the Secretary.
Section 17 permits baby trawls using fishing boats three (3) gross tons or less to operate in areas four (4) fathoms deep or more if authorized by existing municipal ordinances duly approved by the Secretary.
Section 17 vests the Philippine Coast Guard with functions on registration, documentation, inspection, and manning of fishing boats, except those vested in the Bureau; it also allows acceptance for registration/documentation/licensing if inspection and verification by the Maritime Safety Division and Naval Architecture and Engineering Section confirm seaworthiness and fitness.
Section 17 states that a coastwise license is not required for fishing boats.
Section 17 provides officer manning rules for boats of Philippine registry of 10 gross tons or more but less than 500 tons, operated exclusively as fishing boats in territorial waters, requiring at least one licensed deck officer and one licensed engine officer, with qualifications prescribed by the Coast Guard and potentially lower than those required for similar coastwise-trade vessels because the fishing boat will not transport passengers/cargo.
Section 17 requires all fishing boats to be provided with adequate medical supplies and life-saving devices to be determined by the Philippine Coast Guard; for fishing boats of twenty (20) gross tons or more, a person qualified as a First Aider, duly certified by a government physician, must be employed.
Section 18 prohibits importation and exportation of fish and fishery/aquatic products (adult or young, fry or fish eggs) for propagation or other purposes without first securing a permit and paying inspection and other fees.
Section 18 restricts exportation of fry (except “bangus” fry, whose exportation is totally banned) to after requirements of the domestic fishing industry are met.
Section 18 provides that no other inspection fee may be imposed and collected by any other government office or agency.
Section 20 provides that no commercial fishing boat license shall be issued except to Philippine citizens or to associations/corporations duly registered in the Philippines with at least sixty per cent (60%) of capital stock owned by Filipino citizens.
Section 20 prohibits any licensee from selling, transferring, or assigning stock/interest to a person not qualified to hold the license; any such transfer/sale/assignment is null and void and not registered in the association/corporation’s books.
Section 20 provides that certificate of Philippine registry for qualifying fishing boats is valid only as long as the fishing boat is engaged in or used for fishing operations, including transportation of fish caught.
Section 21 allows Philippine citizens and qualified corporations/associations engaged in commercial fishing to enter into charter contracts, lease or lease-purchase agreements of fishing boats, or contracts for financial/technical/other assistance with foreign persons/corporations/entities for production, storage, marketing, and processing, subject to approval of the Secretary.
Section 21 limits foreign crew members: the foreign crew shall not exceed seventy-five per cent (75%) of the complement and foreign crew may be issued fisherman’s licenses subject to security clearance by the Philippine Coast Guard and Council-promulgated rules and guidelines.
Section 21 requires charter/lease/lease-purchase agreements to condition that Filipino seamen and fishermen be instructed and trained by foreign crew members in operation of fishing boats and use of fishing gears, and that after two years, all foreign crew members must be replaced.
Section 21 makes such foreign assistance contracts subject to Council guidelines and Secretary approval, and requires that payments under them be made in kind (export items of fish and/or fishery/aquatic products).
Section 22 allows an employee on board a fishing boat capable of operating radio transceivers to be authorized by the Radio Control Office to operate such transceivers during fishing operations without qualifying in the examination under existing laws/regulations, provided the Radio Control Office gives practical examinations for radio operators on board fishing boats only.
Section 22 dispenses with any franchise requirement for installation/operation of radio transceivers on board fishing boats and in home-based stations; upon application, the Radio Control Office issues a permit and assigns a pre-set frequency to a qualified applicant, subject to rules/regulations and consistent with national security.
Section 22 requires that the Philippine Coast Guard be informed by the Radio Control Office of pre-set radio frequencies assigned to fishing boat operators.

Fishponds, fishpens, and municipal fisheries mechanisms

Section 23 prohibits disposal by sale of public lands suitable for fishpond purposes after effectivity, but permits due course only of fishpond sales patents already processed and approved on or before November 9, 1972, subject to condition that the application covers a fully developed fishpond not exceeding twenty-four (24) hectares.
Section 24 provides that public lands available for fishpond development (including those earmarked for family-size fishponds) and not yet leased prior to November 9, 1972 shall be leased only to qualified persons/associations/cooperatives/corporations under these conditions:
- Lease term is twenty-five (25) years, renewable for another twenty-five (25) years.
- Fifty per cent (50%) of the area must be developed and producing in commercial scale within three (3) years, and the remaining portion within five (5) years, both beginning from execution of the lease contract.
- Any area not fully developed within five (5) years from lease execution automatically reverts to the public domain for disposition by the Bureau.
- A lessee who failed to develop the area (or any portion) is not permitted to re-apply for the area (or any portion) or any public land under this Decree.
- No portion of the lease area may be sub-leased.
Section 25 limits the leased fishpond area to:
- fifty hectares for individuals; and
- five hundred hectares for associations and corporations.
Section 25 authorizes a larger area to be leased to qualified applicants with approval of the Secretary if circumstances so warrant.
Section 26 directs the Bureau, subject to Secretary approval, to identify and set aside public lands subdivided into family-size fishponds and to lease them under Council guidelines.
Section 27 prohibits construction and/or operation of a fishpen without a Bureau license even if a mayor’s license exists contrary to this rule.
Section 27 sets fishpen license term at five (5) years, renewable for another five (5) years.
Section 27 limits fishpen license maximum area to ten (10) hectares for an individual and fifty (50) hectares for an association, partnership, cooperative, or corporation.
Section 28 prohibits construction by lessee/licensee that obstructs free navigation in any stream or lake flowing through or adjoining the fish pen or fishpond or impedes the flow and ebb of tide from the area; it requires removal upon order of the Secretary.
Section 29 authorizes municipal or city councils (under an ordinance approved by the Secretary pursuant to Section 4) to:
- grant by public bidding to the highest qualified bidder the exclusive privilege of constructing and operating fish corrals, oyster culture beds, or gathering “bangus” fry (or fry of other species) in municipal waters for a period not exceeding five (5) years;
- require that in zoning/classification for awarding fry areas, the council sets aside not more than one-fifth (1/5) of the area earmarked for gathering fry as government “bangus” fry reservation designated by the Bureau;
- prohibit fish corral construction within two hundred (200) meters of another fish corral in marine fisheries, or within one hundred (100) meters in fresh water fisheries, unless belonging to the same licensee, but in no case less than sixty (60) meters, except in waters less than two (2) meters deep at low tide or unless previously approved by the Secretary;
- authorize issuance to qualified persons of licenses for operation of fishing boats three (3) gross tons or less, or for fishing in municipal waters with nets, traps, or other fishing gear.
Section 29 limits municipal power by prohibiting councils from imposing a license for gathering marine mollusca or their shells, for pearling boats and pearl divers, or for prospecting, collecting, or gathering sponges or other aquatic products, or for culture of fishery/aquatic products.
Section 29 restricts municipal licensees from operating within two hundred (200) meters of any fish corral licensed by the municipality, except when the licensee owns/operators that fish corral, but in no case within sixty (60) meters.
Section 29 requires the municipality/city council to furnish the Bureau, for statistical purposes, data and information on fishery matters reflected in forms furnished by the Bureau.
Section 30 provides that municipal leases and concessions concerning fishing and fisheries in streams, lakes, rivers, inland and/or municipal waters granted under ordinances approved pursuant to Section 4 are valid and enforceable only upon Secretary approval, upon recommendation of the Director.

Reserve fisheries and fish sanctuaries

Section 31 authorizes the Secretary, upon recommendation of the Director, to designate by fishery administrative order fishery reservations in Philippine waters for exclusive use of the Government or its political subdivisions/agencies/instrumentalities, or for inhabitants of a municipality, or for culture of fish and other aquatic animals for educational, research, and scientific purposes.
Section 32 authorizes the Secretary, upon recommendation of the Director, to set aside and establish fish refuges and sanctuaries administered in the manner prescribed by the Secretary.
Section 32 declares that streams, ponds, and waters within game refuges, bird sanctuaries, national parks, botanical garden, communal forests, and communal pastures are hereby fish refuges and sanctuaries.

Prohibited acts and illegal fishing rules

Section 33 makes it unlawful to catch, take, or gather, or cause others to catch/take/gather fish or fishery/aquatic products in Philippine waters using explosives, obnoxious or poisonous substances, or electricity as defined in Section 3.
Section 33 authorizes the Secretary, upon recommendation of the Director and subject to safeguards and conditions deemed necessary, to allow use of explosives, obnoxious or poisonous substances, or electricity for research, educational, or scientific purposes in specified areas.
Section 33 states that chemicals used to eradicate predators in fishponds according to accepted scientific fishery practices without deleterious effects in neighboring waters are not construed as use of “obnoxious or poisonous substance” under this section.
Section 33 permits, subject to Secretary approval, the use of mechanical bombs for killing whales, crocodiles, sharks, or other large dangerous fishes.
Section 33 prohibits any person knowingly to possess, deal in, sell, or dispose of for profit fish or fishery/aquatic products illegally caught/taken/gathered.
Section 33 establishes evidentiary presumptions:
- discovery of dynamite/explosives/chemical combustible compounds, obnoxious or poisonous substances, or electric fishing equipment/devices in a fishing boat or in a fisherman’s possession presumes they were used for fishing in violation; and
- discovery in a fishing boat of fish caught/killed by explosives/obnoxious/poisonous substances/electricity presumes the owner/operator/fisherman were fishing with those prohibited methods.
Section 34 prohibits fishing with nets having mesh smaller than that fixed by rules and regulations promulgated under Section 7, while exempting gathering of fry, glass eels, and elvers and species that are small by nature but already mature.
Section 35 prohibits operating trawls in waters seven fathoms deep or less, subject to Section 17.
Section 36 bans exportation of “bangus” fry.
Section 37 prohibits placing, causing to be placed, discharging, depositing, or passing into Philippine waters a list of harmful materials including petroleum, acid, coal, oil tar, lampback, aniline, asphalt, bitumen, residuary products of petroleum/carbonaceous material, molasses, mining and mill tailings, refinery/gas house/tannery/distillery/chemical works/sugar central/mill/factory refuse, sawdust/shavings/slabs/edgings, factory refuse, and any deleterious substance/material to fish or fishery/aquatic life.

Criminal penalties and administrative enforcement

Section 38 provides penalties for illegal fishing and dealing in illegally caught fish:
- For violation of Section 33 with explosives: imprisonment from ten (10) to twelve (12) years.
  - If explosion results in physical injury: imprisonment from twelve (12) to twenty (20) years.
  - If explosion results in loss of human life: imprisonment from twenty (20) years to life, or death.
- For violation of Section 33 with obnoxious or poisonous substances: imprisonment from eight (8) to ten (10) years.
  - If physical injury results: imprisonment from ten (10) to twelve (12) years.
  - If loss of human life results: imprisonment from twenty (20) years to life or death.
- For violation of Section 33 with electricity: imprisonment from two (2) to four (4) years.
- For dealing in illegally caught fish or fishery/aquatic products: imprisonment from two (2) to six (6) years.
Section 38 provides penalties for trawl fishing (violation of Section 35) as:
- a fine not exceeding P1,000.00, or
- imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or both,
  in the discretion of the Court.
Section 38 provides penalties for exportation of “bangus” fry (violation of Section 36) as:
- fine not less than P1,000.00 nor more than P5,000.00, or
- imprisonment not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or both, in the discretion of the Court.
Section 38 provides penalties for other violations (violation of any other provision of the Decree or any rule/regulation promulgated pursuant to it):
- fine from P500.00 to P5,000.00, or
- imprisonment from six (6) months to four (4) years, or both, in the discretion of the Court.
Section 38 empowers the Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to impose an administrative fine of not more than P5,000.00, or cancel the offender’s permit or license, or to impose the fine and cancel the permit/license, in the Director’s discretion.
Section 38 authorizes the Director (or duly authorized representative) and law enforcement agents to impound, with assistance of the Philippine Coast Guard when