Creation of Bureau of Fisheries

June 20, 1947

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 177

AN ACT TO CREATE THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES

SECTION 1. There is hereby created under the Department of Agriculture and Commerce an office to be known as the Bureau of Fisheries. aisa dc

SECTION 2. The Bureau of Fisheries shall have one chief who shall be known as the Director of Fisheries, to be appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the Congress and shall receive a compensation of seven thousand two hundred pesos per annum. Subject to the general supervision and control of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, the Director of Fisheries shall possess the powers generally conferred upon Bureau Chiefs.

There shall be in the said Bureau such experts and other officials and employees to be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce as may be required to carry out the purposes of this Act and of the Fisheries Act.

SECTION 3. The divisions, sections, field districts, experimental stations, and all activities and agencies of the National Government connected with fishery work are hereby transferred to the Bureau of Fisheries, and such powers, functions, and duties relative to fisheries vested by law or executive orders in such divisions, sections, field districts, experimental stations, and other fishery agencies, are hereby transferred to the Director of Fisheries.

The Director of Fisheries shall, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, organize its personnel into such divisions or sections as will insure maximum efficiency. cdt

SECTION 4. The Director of Fisheries shall have the following powers, duties, and functions:

(a) To supervise and control the demarcation, protection, management, development, reproduction, occupancy, and use of all public fishery reserves and national and municipal fisheries and fishery reservations.

(b) To issue, in accordance with law, licenses or permits for the removal or taking of aquatic products and to suspend or revoke the same for cause.

(c) To carry out the provisions of this Act and all other laws pertaining to the supervision, administration, and disposition of aquatic resources and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

(d) To increase and conserve the fishery resources of the Philippines by: studying the life cycle of fishes; establishing hatcheries; and protecting the spawning or breeding grounds of fishes.

(e) To conduct studies of fishing practice and methods relative to the protection of the aquatic resources, economy of operation, prevention of waste and disseminate the results and information on appropriate bulletins or circulars.

(f) To conduct a demonstration service to acquaint the people with the various modern methods of fishing. For this purpose, a fishing vessel shall be duly equipped and go from place to place.

(g) To make a survey of the fishing areas, fishing banks and fisheries of the Philippines and maintain an adequate collection of commercial fishes and other aquatic products of the Philippines.

(h) To collect and disseminate information and conduct investigations concerning oceanography, fishery administration and operation, the utilization of fishery products and the establishment of fishery industries.

(i) To prepare, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, forms, instructions, rules and regulations consistent with law.

(j) To promote further the development of the fishing industry in the Philippines.

(k) Personally or by his duly authorized representatives to make arrest without warrant any person committing or attempting to commit an offense against the provisions of the Fisheries Act; and, to make seizures of products liable to seizure under said Act or under the provisions of any other law on fisheries and fishery products. The property seized may be delivered to the nearest municipal treasurer and held subject to orders of the Director of Fisheries or the person acting in his stead.

(l) Personally or by his duly authorized representatives, to administer oaths and take acknowledgment in matters of official business; issue subpoenas and take testimony in official investigations authorized by law.

(m) To make investigations concerning the nature, organization and resources of the business of all persons engaged in the fishing industry.

SECTION 5. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with the legal summons of the Director of Fisheries or the person duly authorized by him or who refuses to be sworn prior to his testimony or who refuses to answer pertinent questions, or gives or furnishes false or misleading data or information in an investigation made pursuant to subsections (l) and (m) of section four of this Act, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand pesos, or imprisonment not to exceed one year or both in the discretion of the court. If the false information or misleading data have been given under oath, the penalties prescribed by law for perjury shall be imposed.

SECTION 6. The sum of twenty-five thousand pesos or so much thereof as will be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act is hereby appropriated.

The Division of Fisheries is hereby abolished and its activities, properties, equipment, records, assets and liabilities are transferred to the Bureau of Fisheries.

SECTION 7. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. cd

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and forty-seven.

Approved: June 20, 1947

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 43, No. 7, p. 2741 in July 1947