West PH S1ea task force: Filipinos not

covered by fishing ban imposed by China

By: Maria Isabel F. Tamayo

The Philippines said on Tuesday (May 4) After a standoff between Chinese and
that a seasonal fishing ban imposed by Philippine navies, China seized control of
China in the South China Sea does not
apply to Filipinos.

Panatag Shoal, a traditional fishing site.

Manila filed and won a case against Beijing
at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in
2012.

The arbitral court invalidated China's

mythical nine-dash line argument in 2016,
but China simply dismissed the decision,
dismissing it as garbage.
Experts say the presence of huge Chinese
trawlers in the resource-rich South China
The National Task Force on the West
Sea is causing an overfishing crisis. It is
Philippine Sea said in a statement that
also being harmed by China's island
China's announcement that it would enforce
construction, which has damaged reef
a unilateral fishing ban on Chinese fishing
habitats.
vessels in the South China Sea north of the
12th parallel from 1 May to 16 August 2021
The Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP
is "noted."
Sindangan and the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources ship MCS 3005 have
The fishing ban, however, does not extend
been dispatched to Panatag Shoal to
to Filipino fishermen, who are encouraged
enforce the country's fisheries laws and
to "go out and fish in our waters" in the
protect its fishermen, according to the NTF-
West Philippine Sea, the Philippines'
WPS.
exclusive economic zone.
Meanwhile, the PCG's BRP Malapascua is
The Paracel Islands near Vietnam and the
en route to the municipality of Kalayaan,
Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal near the
according to the task force.
Philippines are included in China's annual
summer fishing ban, which extends down to
the 12th parallel of the South China Sea,
which have become contested waters as a
result of China's territorial grab.