by Christine Lyn G. Viajante

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Feb. 14) – To crack down on illegal seafood trade, fishery law enforcement teams from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 10 (BFAR-10) conducted market denial operations on seafood products in malls, supermarkets, and grocery stores in this city,

In the two-day operation, the Enforcement and Regional Monitoring Control and Surveillance Operations Center (ERMCSOC), spearheaded by Fishing Regulations Officer II, Junrey L Salinas, inspected both fresh and dried seafood sections, scrutinizing locally imported products and ensuring compliance with fishery law.

“We are not just here to directly enforce the law, but we’re here mostly to educate our sellers and consumers, as well as to show that BFAR is serious in preventing the sale of contaminated, or misdeclared seafood that may pose health risks to the public or making our fish conservation efforts deem futile,” Salinas explained.

The soft-approach market denial strategy involved engaging store managers and seafood section workers to assess the legality and traceability of sold fishery products.

During the activity, BFAR-10 also conducted Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaigns, providing essential knowledge on fishery laws, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and sustainable seafood sourcing.

IEC materials, including posters and flyers, were distributed and prominently displayed in the seafood sections of participating establishments to raise customer awareness about the importance of purchasing legally sourced and environmentally sustainable fishery products.

The Marketplace head, Aurora G Castil, expressed her appreciation of the team’s efforts stating that the company has been very keen on the fish they sell in their grocery section, especially the fresh ones.

“This IEC helped us be more educated about the seafood products that we sell, we don’t want to be flagged by our customers— what more being caught disobeying the law for the lack of knowledge,” Castil said. (CLViajante//BFAR-10)