Closed-season for “Ludong” now in effect
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Oct. 15 (PIA) – Law enforcement officers are now on look-out in all identified Ludong hotspots in the entire region after the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Administrative Circular 247 is now in effect for the whole month of October to November 15.
“This is the season where Ludong are expected to go down from theupstream down to the estuary of Aparri to spawn,” Atty. Arsenio Bañares, chief of the Fisheries Management, Regulatory and Enforcement Division (FMRED) said.
While waiting for the ‘Ludong run’ which coincides with the swelling of the Cagayan River, usually brought about by heavy rainfall, the team is conducting IEC field campaigns in identified areas.
Bañares said prior to the closed-season, they have been conducting various campaigns to inform the community folks of the corresponding penalties should they violate the order.
BAC 247 states that ‘it shall be unlawful for any person, association or corporation to catch or cause to be caught, using any type of gear or fishing method, purchase, sell or expose for sale, transport, export or have in possession, fish known as Ludong, its by-products or derivatives, during the closed season as defined’.
A penalty of imprisonment of six months to one year and/or fine of six P6,000 and forfeiture of catch and fishing gadgets. However, a stiffer penalty of 6 months and one day to eight years imprisonment and / or fine of eighty thousand pesos, shall be imposed, if offense involves catching of spawning Ludong during the closed season.
The export of spawning Ludong also carries a penalty of 8 years imprisonment, confiscation of the same and fine equivalent to double the value of the same.
Regional Director Milagros Morales urged fisherfolk and buyers or consumers alike to support the bureau's advocacy to preserve the remaining population of Ludong giving chance for the specie to regenerate and increase its dwindling population before it will be listed as extinct or endangered species.
BFAR is thankful for having new partsners like BFAR Region 1 and the Cordillera Administrative Region, along with collaborating agencies and institutions such as the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Isabela State University, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Local Government Units and the Zoological Society of London currently implements the Oplan Sagip Ludong (OSL) project.
The OSL project implements sustainable management measures and breed ludong in captivity, with the end in view to revive population of Ludong in the wild and ensure its availability in the years to come. (MDCT/GVB, with reports from Max Prudencio/BFAR/PIA-2)
News Feed:
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1028533
Latest News | Philippine Information Agency
Philpar