I often get questions about fishing in the Philippines from those thinking of living in the Philippines.  So, I decided to research it. I never dreamed it would be as complicated as it is. I am no lawyer and I still have more questions than answers but I did find some useful information. I also sent an email to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) but have not heard back from them yet.

Can A Foreigner Fish In The Philippines

Most of the fishing regulation in the Philippines is covered by RA 8550`. In that document one of the first things you’ll come across is this policy clause:

(b) to limit access to the fishery and aquatic resources of the Philippines for the exclusive use and enjoyment of Filipino citizens;

That caused me to believe that foreigners are not allowed to fish in the Philippines.  Most of what I read in the law does. Near the end of the document I found this:

CHAPTER VI
Prohibitions and Penalties

Section 86. Unauthorized Fishing or Engaging in Other Unauthorized Fisheries Activities. – No person shall exploit, occupy, produce, breed, culture, capture or gather fish, fry or fingerlings of any fishery species or fishery products, or engage in any fishery activity in Philippine waters without a license, lease or permit.

Discovery of any person in an area where he has no permit or registration papers for a fishing vessel shall constitute a prima facie presumption that the person and/or vessel is engaged in unauthorized fishing: Provided, That fishing for daily food sustenance or for leisure which is not for commercial, occupation or livelihood purposes may be allowed.

May be allowed is different from shall be allowed. So I still don’t know for sure.

Sport Fishing May Be Allowed In The Philippines

I know that only a citizen can get a license to fish.  That is clearly stated in the law. The law also says you must have a license to fish. I thought maybe the definition of “fishing” will provide the answer but it does not.

39. Fishing – the taking of fishery species from their wild state of habitat, with or without the use of fishing vessels.

10. Commercial Fishing – the taking of fishery species by passive or active gear for trade, business & profit beyond subsistence or sports fishing, to be further classified as:

(1) Small scale commercial fishing – fishing with passive or active gear utilizing fishing vessels of 3.1 gross tons (GT) up to twenty (20) GT;

Even to import a fishing vessel into the Philippines requires approval:

The entry of any foreign fishing vessel in Philippine waters shall constitute a prima facie evidence that the vessel is engaged in fishing in Philippine waters.

Violation of the above shall be punished by a fine of One hundred thousand U.S. Dollars (US$100,000.00), in addition to the confiscation of its catch, fishing equipment and fishing vessel: Provided, That the Department is empowered to impose an administrative fine of not less than Fifty thousand U.S. Dollars (US$50,000.00) but not more than Two hundred thousand U.S. Dollars (US$200,000.00) or its equivalent in the Philippine Currency.

41. Fishing vessel – any boat, ship or other watercraft equipped to be used for taking of fishery species or aiding or assisting one (1. or more vessels in the performance of any activity relating to fishing, including, but not limited to, preservation, supply, storage, refrigeration, transportation and/or processing.

Perhaps it is clear by now why I’m confused on the exact answer. I think if I were to go fishing, I’d have to hire a lawyer to go with me.

One thing is abundantly clear, you cannot operate a commercial fishing operation here. If you do, you fishing for tuna in the Philippineswill be butting heads with the locals.

I found one guy that gave this a try.  He has several videos online about corruption in the Philippines. What he says in these videos struck me as odd from the start. Now that I’ve read this law, I know what he said was bunk.

Maybe he had the boat registered in his wife’s name. Come on, every word he spoke made it clear it was his boat.  I’m not going to go into details here because I plan to write another story about people that cry corruption when they clearly are in the wrong.

One thing he claimed in the video was that the locals where taking fish from his nets at night. Well, the fish on those nets were their fish. What he was doing was taking from their livelihood and fishing in the Philippines has not been good in the last few years. Fishermen are having a hard time in recent years. He might have had the fishing vessel in the name of his wife but it was clearly his boat  and purchased with his money.

Officials in the Philippines are not stupid. They often refer to this as  “Dummies.” In the USA we are familiar with the term dummy corporation. Expats come to the Philippines and set up many different forms of dummy businesses in their spouses name. I don’t think the common sense approach to justice in the Philippines is conducive to those kinds of machinations.

He is lucky to have lost only his boat. If they couldn’t stop his fishing, they could have stopped his breathing. The authorities shot his boat up, making it unusable. Then he claims he has been mistreated and that the government is corrupt.

http://www.bfar.da.gov.ph/pages/legislation/IRR_8550.html

I also found some expats running a sport fishing business in the Philippines. There was someone doing that out of Cebu but I don’t think it is operational any more. My emails to him on the subject have gone unanswered. I found another one in Luzon. I can’t tell you if it is a good operation and or bad. I’d love to try them out.

I wonder about the legality of it but hopefully he has that worked out and sports fishing is allowed. The Philippines appears to wish that mass fishing operations are limited to Filipinos.  Fishing has declined in recent years. Fishing is the livelihood of many Filipinos. Bogo City, where I live, is a fishing village.

Quite a few people have contemplated the idea of operating a fishing business after moving here. That appears to be out of the question. You’ll have to find another way to make money while living in the Philippines.

I wrote BFAR a week or more ago but they have not answered me. I had hoped to get clarification on sports fishing. It appears to be allowed and if I get a chance to do it, I will. Though I’d feel better about taking a lawyer with me if I were to go fishing in the Philippines.

More information about fishing in the Philippines can be found at BFAR.

Picture credit and Fishing Guide in the Philippiens.

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