The Senate, in its session on Rota last week, passed the bill which is now on the desk of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
Introduced by Santos, Ind.-Rota, H.B. 17-33 will amend the Fair Fishing Act of 2000 to lift the current ban on certain traditional fishing methods.
This will improve the livelihood of Rota residents, considering the high cost of living nowadays, she said.
Rota Mayor Melchor A. Mendiola also supports the bill.
If the bill becomes law, it will be legal to use throw nets (talaya), or the use of other types of nets that are not smaller than two inches like drag nets (chenchulum lagua), surround nets (chenchulum umesugon) or trap nets (chenchulum managam) in the waters surrounding Rota.
But these fishing methods can only be used for non-commercial purposes, the bill stated.
The Division of Fish and Wildlife, in furtherance of P.L. 12-14, recently proposed the promulgation of regulations banning the use of many forms of nets for fishing throughout the CNMI.
According to the bill, “The Legislature finds that such proposed regulations fail to take into account the economic and social realities of the CNMI and the need for non-commercial net-fishing as a source of food for the people of the CNMI that have traditionally relied on such fishing methods to support and sustain themselves and their families.”
