Foreign fishing fleets threaten RP

Foreign fishing fleets threaten RP

MANILA (AFP): Fishing fleets of developed nations will become
one of the main concerns of the ill-equipped Philippine navy as
it tries to defend against poaching and toxic-waste dumping in
the country's waters, President Fidel Ramos said yesterday.

The navy has "inadequate resources to effectively deal with
them," and would employ a "selective sea control" strategy to
meet the threats, he told navy officers and men here.

"As a result of declining fish catch all over the world, many
developed countries have imposed sanctions and limitations on the
operations of their fishing fleets.

"It is reasonable to expect that many of these fishing fleets
will redeploy in the exclusive economic zones of developing
countries. These fishing fleets can be potential threats to the
further depletion of our marine resources," he added.