|
Image: LLDA / FIS
LLDA has allowed private firms to exceed fish pen area allocation
PHILIPPINES
Tuesday, September 05, 2023, 07:00 (GMT + 9)
Aquaculture structures owned by private corporations occupied 4,318.67 hectares or 47 percent of the allowable area of Laguna Lake in 2022, exceeding the 60:40 allocation in favor of independent fishermen under the 2018 Zoning and Management Guidelines (Zomag).
Government auditors said the job of ensuring the sustainable and equitable allocation of fishing areas in Laguna Lake was entrusted to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA).
Source: LLDA / Wiki / FIS
The Zomag identified 9,200 hectares as the maximum allowable area for aquaculture activities, with 60 percent or 5,520 hectares set aside for individuals and the remaining 40 percent or 3,680 hectares available to corporations, partnerships, and cooperatives.
However, the Commission on Audit noted that in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Zomag, cooperatives were lumped together with individual fishing operations thereby creating an inconsistency.
Photo: LLDA
“It is our view that in case of inconsistencies between the Zomag of 2018 and its IRR, the provisions of the Zomag should prevail unless another Board Resolution is issued reconciling the same,” the COA declared.
Auditors said the issue had already been brought before the LLDA Board of Directors in May 2022 but the conflict between the Zomag and its IRR has not been resolved so far.
As of December 31, 2022, the audit team said individual fish pen/fish cage owners only occupied 34 percent or 3,152.74 hectares of the allowable area.
Photo courtesy of Inquirer
On the other hand, private corporations encroached into 777.85 hectares in addition to the 23,680 hectares that were set aside for them.
Cooperatives occupied another 139.18 hectares while the remaining 1,589.41 hectares of the exploitable area comprising 17 percent remained unallocated.
The COA likewise established that out of 193 private corporations operating fish pens in the lake, 102 occupied more than the maximum permitted area of 20 hectares.
Among 111 individual operators of fish cages, the audit team also found 67 that have exceeded the limit of five hectares.
“We would like to emphasize one of the primary purposes for the systematic and equitable area allocation … is to rationalize the utilization of the Laguna de Bay area and its resources with due regard to the underprivileged fishermen and their entitlements which LLDA failed to achieve,” the COA pointed out.
The LLDA management did not contest the findings and agreed to enforce compliance with the Zomag area allocation guidelines and to expedite the review and harmonization of the conflicting provision and the IRR.
Author: Pedro Tabingo | Malaya Business Insight
[email protected]
www.seafood.media
|
Print
