The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya)-Panay condemned the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) for imposing a fishing ban in selected areas of the Visayan Sea from November 15 to February 15, 2026. The fishing ban prohibits the catching and selling of sexually mature and juvenile species of lupoy, silinyasi, linatsay, and manansi.

BFAR annually enforces the fishing ban purportedly to ensure the growth and reproduction of fish. However, according to Pamalakaya-Panay, this prohibition does not address the crisis of overfishing and the alleged deficit in the country’s marine resources.

The group said that the fishing ban’s touted sustainability and conservation actually harm small fishers. Around 100,000 small fishers rely on the Visayan Sea for their livelihood.

The policy was first implemented through Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 167 in 1989. It was temporarily suspended in 1990 (FAO 167-1) and 1991 (FAO 167-2). In 2013, it was amended through FAO 167-3 to modify the previously stipulated fines.

According to the fishers’ group, BFAR’s erratic implementation of the policy over the decades shows its lack of a clear stance on the fishing ban. “The agency blatantly neglects addressing the root problems faced by fishers against foreign and large corporate interests,” the group said.

It added that small fishers clearly know whose interests BFAR upholds, especially in its failure to defend their exclusive rights over the 15-kilometer municipal waters. BFAR has also failed to imprison illegal trawlers and other large vessels that violate the agency’s regulations.

The group also condemned the lack of sufficient funding and capacity for the Bantay Dagat fishers or a proper vessel monitoring system (VMS) that would ensure proper monitoring of commercial fishing.

“The fish ban policy only serves as a stopgap measure and an added burden from an agency that lacks the courage to hold accountable those primarily responsible for the depletion of fish in the seas,” Pamalakaya-Panay said.

While the group called to junk BFAR’s anti-fisherfolk ban, it also demanded sufficient subsidies for the sector to compensate lost livelihoods during the ban period.