Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. recently urged the public, in order to preserve the blue crab population in the province, to refrain from harvesting berried crab, or crabs carrying eggs, also known as ‘bukakahan.’
He said the crabs need to reach full maturity in order to lay eggs.
The governor cited a study that found berried crabs can yield as many as two million eggs and, noted, thousands of fishermen stake their livelihood on the crabbing industry.
Marañon also requested fishermen to not harvest crablets, saying crabs should be between 9.65 and 10.5 centimeters in order to be harvested.
A release from the Philippine Information Agency Region-6 (PIA-6) explained the provisions of Ordinance No.19 series of 2003-Provincial Blue Crab Fishery Industry, which provides regulations on blue crab fishing.
Fishermen caught illegally fishing blue crabs are given a warning on their first two offenses, then fined P1,500 and face their fishing permit or license suspended on their third offense./WDJ