Sulu offers fishing solutions

JOLO, Sulu Province — The provincial government here on Tuesday is offering a solution to the ongoing woes of fishing companies following the ban imposed on commercial fishing boats inside the Sulu Sea.

Governor Abdusakur Tan disclosed that the conditions the provincial government will offer to them will surely benefit it and the fishing companies operating in Zamboanga Peninsula and from regions in Southern Luzon.

Tan said that one of the conditions is for fishing and canning companies to establish their canning factories in Sulu and pay their business license and income taxes in the province, as he explained that establishing a canning factory in this province would generate employment and income for the people of Sulu whose main livelihood is fishing.

"This will also allow the province to benefit from the proceeds of the resources they are harvesting in the Sulu Sea by way of business permit tax and income tax," Tan said.

He added that it will be unfair to the provincial government that fishing boats of multi-million companies are fishing in the Sulu Sea but paying their taxes in Zamboanga City where the majority of their canning factories are located.

"Our province does not earn anything from their catch and yet they are fishing in the Sulu Sea," Tan said. "Where is the logic there?"

"While we may allow them to fish in the Sulu Sea, the SPLG will also adopt some restrictions for them to follow," he added.

The restrictions include the prohibition of fishing in areas where sea corals are located in order not to destroy the coral reef ecosystem of the Sulu Sea.

Tan stressed that coral reefs build homes for millions of species of marine life and protect coastlines from storms and erosion and once the coral reefs are destroyed, everybody will experience a shortage in the supply of fish.