SUMMARY
PALAWAN, Philippines – Hello from Manila, but I write this to you on board the BRP Cabra, fresh off a joint Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) mission to Recto Bank, where we covered Filipino fisherfolk in installing payaos, or fish aggregating devices, in Rozul Reef.
The mission, thankfully, went mostly unimpeded had it not been for the strong currents that made it difficult for 20 of the 25 fishing vessels to arrive at the meeting point on time. It was the fisherfolk themselves, alongside the BFAR and the PCG, who installed all 10 payaos from late morning until the evening.
All of this happened under the very watchful and harassing eye of two China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels that began tailing the BFAR’s BRP Lapu-Lapu in the wee …