The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will oppose oil exploration in the 13-million hectare Benham Rise, as it would threaten the “abundant” fish supply in the area.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said on Monday he would propose to President Duterte to declare the Benham Rise a “Protected Food Supply Exclusive Zone” to shield it from possible mineral and oil explorations.
“Just like any delicate eco-system, there is a need to protect and conserve the Philippine Benham Rise as a food source for future generations of Filipinos. I will recommend to President Duterte that the Philippine Benham Rise should be declared as a Protected Food Supply Exclusive Zone,” Piñol said in a statement on May 8.
“As such, the Benham Rise should be protected from destructive mining and oil exploration. It is my belief that the country will benefit more if it will protect and conserve the Philippine Benham Rise because, while minerals and oil supply are finite, the capacity of the fish species in the area to multiply is limitless,” Piñol added.
The agriculture chief made the pronouncement following his three-day expedition to Benham Rise, which started on May 5. Piñol led the expedition together with a team from the DA and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), which conducted a research on the production potential of Benham Rise.
“During the 17th Cabinet Meeting in Malacañang today [May 8], I will make a report to President Duterte and members of the Cabinet on the outcome of the three-day Philippine Expedition to the Philippine Benham Rise,” Piñol said.
Piñol said he would recommend to Duterte and the Cabinet the construction of various facilities in Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of Benham Rise, including a research center for marine scientists, a dock for the local fisherfolk, an ice-making plant to keep fish catch fresh, a station for the Coast Guard and a weather radar station.
“The facility will serve as a research base of Filipino scientists and aqua-marine researchers and a monitoring station for illegal fishermen and poachers.
It could also serve as a facility of refuge for Filipino fishermen in the area and docking station of government vessels, which will patrol the vast seas,” he said.
“More than that, the Philippine Benham Rise Research Facility, which will proudly fly our country’s Standards, will be a symbol of our ownership of the resource-rich area, which [the] government will protect and safeguard for the Filipinos of the future,” he added.
The DA chief said he would also ask for additional funds that would be allocated for the procurement and deployment of more “payao”, or fish-aggregating devices (FAD), in Benham Rise to aid Filipino fishermen in monitoring their catch in the area. Citing a local fisherman, Piñol said fishermen could catch as much as 20 metric tons of big fish within a month.
“The MV DA-BFAR will deploy 14 more payaos in the area when they sail back to the Philippine Benham Rise on Monday. I will recommend that government allocate more funds for the deployment of more payaos in the area to further enhance the catch of Filipino fishermen,” Piñol added.
“This is a proactive action to discover how rich Benham Rise is as far as natural resources are concerned. More important, this is also to protect the area from overfishing and to give our fisherfolk priority access to Benham Rise’s marine resources and make them partners in ensuring the protection of Benham Rise,” Piñol said.
He said the government should also intensify its efforts in restricting the entry of foreign vessels in the Philippine-owned resource to protect the interests of Filipino fishermen, particularly their source of income.
“The fishermen in the area reported the continuing presence of Taiwanese Long Line fishing boats, which would sometimes chase the Filipino fishermen who get near their long lines deployed in the waters within Philippine territory,” he said.
“There is a need for the Philippine government to intensify its monitoring of the entry of foreign vessels, especially poachers, in the area to protect Filipino fishermen,” he added.
He said Filipino fishermen could earn as much as P500,000 for every Blue Fin Tuna caught in the area.
“There is a need to declare a Closed Fishing Season in the area during the months when the Blue Fin Tuna and the other big fish species are spawning to attain sustainability,” he said .
Benham Rise is a 13-million hectare underwater plateau that is around 5,000 meters deep from the sea surface and accounts for 43 percent of the total fish catch landed at Dinahican Port in Infanta, Quezon, according to the DA.