(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to catch, take or gather or cause to be caught, taken or gathered fish or any fishery species in Philippine waters with the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substance such as sodium cyanide, which will kill, stupefy, disable or render unconscious fish or fishery species: Provided, That the Department, subject to such safeguards and conditions deemed necessary and with the endorsement from the concerned LGUs, may allow, for research, educational or scientific purposes only, the use of poisonous or noxious substances to catch, take or gather fish or fishery species: Provided, further, That the use of poisonous or noxious substances to eradicate predators and pests in fishponds in accordance with accepted scientific practices and without causing adverse environmental impact in neighboring waters and grounds shall not be construed as illegal fishing. The discovery of dynamite, other explosives and chemical compounds which contain combustible elements, or noxious or poisonous substances, or equipment or device for electrofishing in any fishing vessel or in the possession of any fisherfolk, operator, fishing boat official or fishworker shall constitute a prima facie presumption that any of these devices was used for fishing in violation of this Code. The discovery in any fishing vessel of fish caught or killed with the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances, or by electricity shall constitute a prima facie presumption that the fisherfolk, operator, boat official or fishworker is fishing with the use thereof. Upon a summary finding of administrative liability, any person found liable for the actual use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances shall be punished with confiscation of catch including those not caught illegally if co-mingled with those caught illegally, gear, explosives and noxious or poisonous substances, or electrofishing devices and paraphernalia and gear, and an administrative fine equivalent to five (5) times the value of the catch or the amount of fine indicated below whichever is higher: (1) Thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00) for municipal fishing; (2) Three hundred thousand pesos (P300,000.00) for small-scale commercial fishing; (3) One million five hundred thousand pesos (P1,500,000.00) for medium scale commercial fishing; and (4) Three million pesos (P3,000,000.00) for large scale commercial fishing. Upon conviction by a court of law, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment from five (5) to ten (10) years, confiscation of catch, including those not caught illegally if comingled with those caught illegally, gear, explosives and noxious or poisonous substances, or electrofishing devices and paraphernalia, gear, and a fine equivalent to twice the amount of the administrative fine, without prejudice to the filing of separate criminal cases when the use of the same result to physical injury or loss of human life. The actual use of electrofishing devices for illegal fishing shall be punished with imprisonment of six (6) months and a fine of Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00). (b) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess explosives, and noxious or poisonous substances for illegal fishing. Upon a summary finding of administrative liability, the offender shall be punished with confiscation of catch, gear, and an administrative fine equivalent to five (5) times the value of the catch or the amount indicated below whichever is higher: (1) Ten thousand, pesos (P10,000.00) for municipal fishing; (2) One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) for small-scale commercial fishing; (3) Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) for medium scale commercial fishing; and (4) One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) for large scale commercial fishing. Violation of this provision shall be punished with imprisonment from six (6) months to two (2) years, and a fine equivalent to twice the amount of the administrative fine and confiscation of catch and gear.

It shall be unlawful to ship, commercially transport, offer for sale, sell, import, export, or have custody, control, or possession of, or to deal in or in any manner dispose of any fish or species caught, taken or retained in violation of this Code.

The seizure receipt (2.) Allows the authorized representatives to seize on behalf of the government, regardless of a settlement, the following::d. fish, fishery species, aquatic resources, its products or by-products, fishing gear, equipment or paraphernalia abandoned by the offender during the conduct of law enforcement operations;

The following acts shall be prohibited under this FAO: 1. Setting on FADs without annual inspection/re-inspection of nets; 2. Using unauthorized nets during FAD closure period (authorized/allowed reduced net depth shall be 115 fathoms and below as established in FAO 236); and 3. Setting on FADs without Observers as they are required.

Serious violations include: m) Intentional setting despite the known presence of a Whale Shark

(1) Use of Fish Aggregating Device (FAD).

(c) The use of FADs shall be governed by the provisions of FAO 244 on National Tuna Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) Management Policy. FAD Closure shall be consistent with Attachment 2 of CMM 2021-01 or its succeeding CMM when available.

(3) Handline

b) The following measure shall also apply: ii) FAO 244, Series of 2012- National Tuna Fish Aggregating Device (FAO) Management Policy;

Section 11. Measures for all fishing gears in the High Seas of the IOTC, ICCAT and other RFMOs

(3) The following FAOs shall also apply:
(c) FAO 244, Series of 2012- National Tuna Fish Aggregating Device (FAO) Management Policy;

All municipal fishing vessels and Philippine-flagged commercial operating in Philippine waters, in the high seas or in waters of other coastal states, are prohibited from committing the following acts: 1) Intentional fishing using any method or gear that is targeting any species of shark; 2) Finning or landing of sharks with removed or unattached fins; 3) Retaining on-board, utilizing, transshipping, storing on a vessel, or landing any Endangered, Threated and Protected (ETP) shark species (as defined), live or dead, in whole or in part; Provided further, that all Philippine-flagged commercial fishing vessels operating in the exclusive economic zone facing the Pacific Ocean, in the high seas or in waters of other coastal stsates, are hereby prohibited from committing the following additional prohibited acts: 4) Using or carrying wire trace as branch lines or leaders and using branch lines running directly off the longline floats or drop lines, known as shark lines for longline fishereis targeting tuna and billfish.

(82) Serious Violation – means any of the following violations of the provisions of this Code: (a) Fishing without a valid license, authorization or permit; (b) Fishing without reporting the catch or misreporting the catch; (c) Fishing in a closed area or during a closed season; (d) Fishing of prohibited species; (e) Fishing with the use of prohibited gear or methods; (f) Falsifying, concealing or tampering with vessel markings, identity or registration to conceal vessel identity or lack of registration; (g) Concealing, tampering or disposing of evidence relating to an investigation of a violation; (h) Assaulting, resisting, intimidating, harassing, seriously interfering with, or unduly obstructing or delaying a fisheries law enforcer, authorized inspector or observer or other duly authorized government officer; (i) Intentionally tampering with or disabling the vessel monitoring system; and (j) Committing multiple violations which taken together constitute a serious disregard of this Code.

The Adjudication Committee may impose the following additional sanctions to the administrative penalties imposed for serious violations:

(3) temporary suspension or permanent revocation of license or permit;

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to catch, take or gather or cause to be caught, taken or gathered, fish or any fishery species in Philippine waters with the use of electricity, explosives, noxious or poisonous substance such as sodium cyanide in the Philippine fishery areas, which will kill, stupefy, disable or render unconscious fish or fishery species: Provided, That the Department, subject to such safeguards and conditions deemed necessary and endorsement from the concerned LGUs, may allow, for research, educational or scientific purposes only, the use of electricity, poisonous or noxious substances to catch, take or gather fish or fishery species species: Provided, further, That the use of poisonous or noxious substances to eradicate predators in fishponds in accordance with accepted scientific practices and without causing adverse environmental impact in neighbouring waters and grounds shall not be construed as illegal shing.

It will likewise be unlawful for any person, corporation or entity to possess, deal in, sell or in any manner dispose of any fish or fishery species which have been illegally caught, taken or gathered.

The discovery of dynamite, other explosives and chemical compounds which contain combustible elements, or noxious or poisonous substances, or equipment or device for electro- shing in any shing vessel or in the possession of any fisherfolk, operator, fishing boat official or fishworker shall constitute prima facie evidence, that the same was used for shing in violation of this Code. The discovery in any shing vessel of fish caught or killed with the use of explosive, noxious or poisonous substances or by electricity shall constitute prima facie evidence that the fisherfolk, operator, boat official or fishworker is fishing with the use thereof.

(2) Mere possession of explosive, noxious or poisonous substances or electrofishing devices for illegal shing shall be punishable by imprisonment ranging from six (6) months to two (2) years.

(3) Actual use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances or electrofishing devices for illegal shing shall be punishable by imprisonment ranging from five (5) years to ten (10) years without prejudice to the ling of separate criminal cases when the use of the same result to physical injury or loss of human life.

(4) Dealing in, selling, or in any manner disposing of, for profit, illegally caught/gathered fisheries species shall be punished by imprisonment ranging from six (6) months to two (2) years.

(5) In all cases enumerated above, the explosives, noxious or poisonous substances and/or electrical devices, as well as the shing vessels, shing equipment and catch shall be forfeited.