• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Moving swiftly to protect the livelihoods of around 2,500 residents dependent on the local blue crab sector, E. B. Magalona Mayor Matthew Louis Malacon has issued an executive order creating the Municipal Crab Industry Task Force.
The urgent local intervention comes in the wake of an export ban imposed by the United States National Marine Fisheries Service under its Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The ban effectively cut off E.B. Magalona, widely recognized as the “blue crab capital” of Negros Occidental, from its primary international market.
In his executive order, Malacon said the sudden trade restrictions have triggered severe market disruptions, causing plummeting prices, reduced demand, and devastating income losses for local fisherfolk, crab pickers, traders, and processing plant workers.
“There is an urgent need to adopt coordinated and responsive measures to mitigate these adverse economic impacts, protect the welfare of our affected stakeholders, and strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of our local crab industry,” he added.
In view of the prevailing economic challenges affecting the local crab industry and the urgent need to provide relief to stakeholders, Malacon urged the Sangguniang Bayan to enact an ordinance granting temporary tax holiday, or such other forms of local tax relief consistent with existing laws, to qualified crab pickers, local fisherfolk and business establishments directly engaged in the local crab industry and adversely affected by the current economic challenges.
The Municipal Agriculture Office, Tourism Office, and Social Welfare and Development Office have been directed to collaborate with the newly formed task force to design, roll out, and monitor recovery and sustainability programs.
Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Marvin Malacon has urged affected workers and fisherfolk to organize into cooperatives, streamlining access to direct financial aid and alternative livelihood assistance from the municipal government.
The crisis has also prompted the Sangguniang Panlalawigan committee on oversight, chaired by Third District Board Member Hope Marey Depasucat, to schedule a public hearing on the proposed Negros Occidental Blue Swimming Crab Sustainability and Management Ordinance on July 24 at the SP session hall in Bacolod City.
Key industry players, including exporters, processing plant owners, buying station operators, fishers, pickers, and seafood traders, have been invited to join the hearing to help shape long-term policy solutions for the province’s blue crab sector. | GPB
