MANILA — A fishers' group on Sunday urged the government to remove a "restrictive" provision in the Fisheries Code that keeps them from fishing in parts of Manila Bay despite having the necessary permits.

Members of national fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) in Cavite said in a statement that the zoning ordinance provision of Republic Act 10654, or the amended Fisheries Code, restricts municipal fisherfolk from fishing more than 15 kilometers from shore even if they have licenses to get their catch for all of Manila Bay.

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The group said it would seek a dialogue with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to assert their "exclusive and preferential rights" in these waters.

Richard Catenza, president of PAMALAKAYA-Cavite, said their members abide by registration policies of the BFAR but still end up being apprehended even in areas covered by these registrations.

"Halimbawa, ang lisensya ng mga mangingisda ng lalawigan ng Cavite ay sumasaklaw sa kabuuan ng Manila Bay, o sa buong Cavite, Central Luzon, at National Capital Region. Subalit pag lumalampas sa municipal waters, huhulihin at pagmumultahin ang mga mangingisda sa kasong 'unauthorized entry'," Catenza also said.

(For example, fishers from Cavite have licenses covering all of Manila Bay — Cavite, Central Luzon and the National Capital Region. But when they go beyond municipal waters, they are apprehended and fined for 'unauthorized entry'.)

The penalty includes a fine of at least P3,000 and the confiscation of the fishing boat and their catch, he said.

Catenza said that municipal fishers have been forced to go further out because of commercial fishing operators that get most of the catch in municipal waters.

The Fisheries Code of 1998, he said, "does not have concrete measures to prevent commercial fishing vessels, which are destructive in nature, from operating even within the municipal waters."