In a bid to deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US NOAA) and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) conducted an inspection on the conduct of the Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) operations at the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority – Davao Fish Port Complex (PFDA-DFPC) on November 7 to 8, 2022.

The two-day visit aims to better understand current monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) practices, procedures, and legal frameworks to combat IUU fishing with a specific emphasis on implementing the PSMA.

The expected outcome of the US-NOAA and INL visit is to identify the needs of the existing policy in PSMA inspection implemented by the agencies that are part of the One-Stop Action Center (OSAC), of which the PFDA is a member.

OSAC is a multi-agency government center organized in every designated government-owned or -controlled regional fish port complex whose principal tasks include, but are not limited to, the processing of documents of fishery products that are to be transshipped to foreign markets and the documentation of incoming and outgoing foreign vessels.

Aside from the PFDA-DFPC Management led by Port Manager Mr. Albert A. Aguinaldo, OSAC representatives from the National Marine Fisheries Service, USAID Fish Right Program, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Quarantine, Bureau of Animal Industry, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources participated in the two-day activity.

(Mark Angelo N. Perez – Public Information Division with report and photos from Kenneth Quindao and Marife Borja of PFDA-DFPC)