The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Western Visayas has enforced the “closed season” in the Visayan Sea on Monday, November 15, and it will end on February 15, 2022.

BFAR-6 said catching, trading, selling, and marketing of sardines, herring and mackerel are prohibited for three months.

“Kinahanglan papahuwayon naton ang Visayan Sea for three months. Allowing the fish to grow, allowing the fish to reproduce para magdamo populasyon sang isda para man ini sa aton mga mangingisda kag sa tanan,” BFAR-6 director Remia Aparri said.

She said the three-month fishing ban covers the following areas:

• Seas in northern Iloilo from Barotac Nuevo towards Carles;
• Roxas City, Pilar, Pontevedra, President Roxas in Capiz;
• E.B. Magalona, Victorias City, Manaplan, Sagay, Cadiz City, and Escalante City in Negros Island;
• Bantayan Island in Northern Cebu.

The Visayan Sea, one of the country’s largest fishing grounds, is surrounded by the islands of Cebu and Negros to the south; Masbate to the north; Panay to the west; and Leyte to the east./WDJ