As a result, the House did not take any action on H.B. 17-136 which was introduced by Rep. Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan.
Because House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente led the opposition to the bill, Iguel vowed not to support any measure the former lt. governor has introduced and will introduce.
Officials from the Division of Fish and Wildlife, community groups and environmentalists attended the session to air their concerns regarding H.B. 17-136 which proposes to allow non-commercial net fishing in the waters surrounding the CNMI.
Among those who spoke against the measure were acting DFW Director Marianne P. Teregeyo, former Rep. Tina Sablan, marine conservationist Peter Houk, former Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Richard Seman, Chamorro activist Juan C. Reyes, resident Glenn Hunter and Ana Sablan, Alex Sablan and Ron Smith of the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance.
Benavente, R-Saipan, said he did not appreciate the House leadership’s decision to place the bill on the session calendar.
He said the members of the House Committee on Natural Resources made a commitment to wait for the written comments.
“It was disappointing because the chairman [Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan] actually asked the director of Fish and Wildlife for a comment and it was agreed that we would wait for the written comments before taking any action on the bill.”
Benavente said it is fortunate that the Open Government Act allows public comments during a session prior to the deliberation on the bills.
“The Open Government Act really served its purpose, because if not for that statute, this bill would have been passed today,” he added.
Teregeyo said drag net, surround net and trap net fishing are destructive practices that will do more harm than good to the local fishermen.
In her written comment, Teregeyo said those practices will directly impact the state of marine resources. The damage that drag nets will make to the benthic floor, she added, will be irreversible.
She said the current net restriction was implemented to help restock, reseed and restore CNMI fishery, including the benthic habitat.
Iguel’s bill, she added, “will reverse the benefits that fishermen reap today from such a management tool.”
Benavente said he was grateful that so many members of the community and even officials from Fish and Wildlife, including those who came from Rota, attended the session to oppose the bill.
“There are so many reasons to oppose this piece of legislation. I’m just surprised that the leadership continued to support it,” he added.
Conservationist, too
In a separate interview, Iguel, said he, too, is a conservationist. He said he is a “champion” of environmental protection but he also has a responsibility to help his constituents.
He said he will oppose any bill from Benavente.
He did not want to speak for other members of the leadership but he said he felt that they, too, were disappointed with the minority leader’s stand against the net fishing bill.
“I respect the comments of the public — they are entitled to that. But I will stick to my decision to help my people because that is the reason I introduced that bill,” Iguel said.
He noted that the House leadership backed Benavente’s bill to ban the commercial use of shark fins in the CNMI. That bill is now Public Law 17-27.
Benavente said it does not bother him if the leadership will “boycott” legislation he introduces.
“That is politics, and I understand politics. But I am certainly not going to sell my soul. If there’s something I truly believe in, then I will fight for it.
I will not play politics on issues I truly believe in,” said Benavente who grew up as a fisherman.
He said he has lots of respect for Iguel and he can work with anybody in the House, but not at the expense of what he thinks is right.
He opposes the bill, he added, because he is for the future of the tourism industry, the ocean and the lagoon resources. He said he wants to ensure that the children of the CNMI will experience “what we have today.”
