After hearing two people supporting it and only one speaking against it, the House by a vote of 15 to 4 with one absent, passed H.B. 17-136 which lifts the ban against net fishing until the 80 working hours in the government is restored.
Division of Fish and Wildlife aquatic education specialist Richard Seman, the only one in the gallery who opposed the bill, told lawmakers that H.B. 17-136 is “inconsistent and contradictory.”
The bill, he noted, wants to allow surround nets but limits the mesh size to “not smaller than two inches.”
Seman said the mesh size of a surround net or chenchulun is less than one inch.
If the bill allows a two-inch mesh size, then it is actually allowing the use of a gill net which hurts the reef and kills bycatch, he added.
The former Department of Lands and Natural Resources secretary told the lawmakers to “please understand once and for all that, what makes a chenchulu net is its mesh size, which is less than one inch. Anything greater than an inch will actually make the net a gill net which environmental agencies and volunteers oppose.”
Local Republican Party Chairman Juan I. Tenorio spoke in support of the bill. Speaking in vernacular, he asked lawmakers to help locals find ways to make both ends meet, saying that despite the increasing cost of living, their salaries were reduced when the 16-hour pay cut was implemented by the government.
He said that chenchulu or a surround net does not harm the coral reefs. Those who use this net can easily pick the catch and put any bycatch back into the water, he added.
Juan C. Reyes, a local fisherman, echoed Tenorio’s sentiment.
He said if people know how to use chenchulu, there will be “no problems.”
Fishing helps people get food and pay their bills, he added.
Rep. Ray A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan, offered a floor amendment clarifying the definition of a surround net to distinguish it from a gill net.
He said only persons of Northern Marianas descent should be allowed to use net fishing, but Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz, R-Saipan, said the proposal is discriminatory.
Aside from its author, Rep. Sylvestre I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan, those who voted yes were Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan; Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan; House Floor Leader George N. Camacho, Ind.-Saipan; Reps. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan; Teresita A. Santos, Ind.-Saipan; Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan; Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan; Ramon S. Basa; Covenant-Saipan; Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan; Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan; Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant-Saipan; Ramon A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan; Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan; and Trenton B. Conner, R-Tinian.
Those who voted no aside from Dela Cruz were House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan; Reps. Antonio P. Sablan, R-Saipan; and Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, was absent.
