LAWMAKERS on Tuesday have expressed their concern over the high number of illegal dynamite fishing cases in the country and has called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the local government units to help the Department of Agriculture (DA) in curbing the illegal activity.

Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and food, said that based on the information he received from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), there are 10,000 cases of dynamite fishing recorded daily.

According to Pangilinan illegal fishing activities pose serious threats on the sustainability of the fishing grounds in many areas of the country.

Chapter 6, Section 88 of the Philippine Fisheries code of 1998, prohibits the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substance, and/or electricity in fishing.

Under the law it is the job of the police, local government units to go after individuals and companies that are engaged in illegal form of fishing.

“We have to address this critically with the PNP and the local government this is unacceptable,” said Pangilinan in a news briefing after the Senate finance committee hearing on the proposed budget of the DA.

Pangilinan noted that the finance committee has allocated an additional P1.5-billion to present P3-billion budget of BFAR in order to effectively address the problem.

With P4.5 billion, Pangilinan said that they expect the problem be squarely addressed and the BFAR even gave its commitment that by all program that have been put in place will bear fruits next year.

Pangilinan is convinced that fishermen engaged in illegal form of fishing have contacts in either in the police or the local government, the reason why they manage to continue their illegal activities.

“There are people on the ground who are tolerating it [illegal fishing],” he said, adding that it is unlikely for authorities to have no knowledge about that illegal activities being performed by unscrupulous fishermen.

The fisheries sector according to Sen. Franklin Drilon registered a negative growth for the last 10 quarters since 2010 and the situation is very alarming considering that 18 percent of the agriculture output of the country is contributed by the fisheries sector.

According to the data provided by the DA the fishery sector registered a 4-percent negative growth in 2011 and 3.3 percent in the first six months of 2012.

“We have called the attention of the secretary on this sector, otherwise the good performance of the agricultural sector will be affected,” he said.

The entire agriculture sector on 2011 has registered a 2.46-percent growth and is expected to gain more this year.

The Senate Committee on Finance has approved the DA’s 2013 proposed budget of P74.9-billion, 22 percent higher than that of P61.4 billion in 2011.