Philippines Requires Commercial Fishing Vessels to Install Monitoring Devices | Oceana

Victory | July 1, 2023

Philippines Requires Commercial Fishing Vessels to Install Monitoring Devices

President Marcos of the Philippines issued a memorandum directing the Fisheries Bureau to implement vessel monitoring rules and install devices to track location, speed, and catch in all commercial fishing vessels greater than 3.1 GT in the country. This rule, which follows significant campaigning by Oceana and our allies, will help prevent and deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which accounts for up to 40% of the fish caught in the Philippines. Additionally, requiring tracking devices will help deter commercial fishing vessel encroachment into municipal waters that are reserved for artisanal fishers. Such encroachment has resulted in overfishing, habitat destruction, and fish stock depletion, which threatens coastal communities and artisanal fishers, who rely on a healthy ocean for food security and to support their livelihoods.