Iginiit ni Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio na ang traditional fishing ay hindi applicable sa Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) ng Pilipinas.
Ito ang reaction ni Carpio sa sinabi ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa kanyang ika-apat na State of the Nation Address (SONA) na ini-invoke niya ang traditional fishing rights nang payagan niyang mangisda ang mga Chinese sa loob ng exclusive economic zone (EEZ) ng Pilipinas.
Paliwanag ni Carpio, ang traditional fishing ay applicable lamang sa territorial sea at archipelagic waters.
Malinaw daw sa arbitral ruling noong 2016 na ang Reed Bank ay bahagi ng EEZ ng Pilipinas at wala dapat nangyayaring traditional fishing sa lugar.
Aniya, ang traditional fishing ay isang artisanal fishing na gumagamit ng maliliit na bangka na may outriggers.
Hindi rin maaaring makuwalipika para sa traditional fishing ang Chinese steel-hulled trawlers.
“Traditional fishing applies only in the territorial sea and archipelagic waters. There is no traditional fishing in the EEZ. This very clear in the arbitral award of 12 July 2016. Reed Bank is part of Philippine EEZ. There can be no traditional fishing in Reed Bank. Traditional fishing is artisanal fishing using small, simple fishing boats like the wooden boats, with outriggers, of Filipino fishermen. The Chinese steel-hulled trawlers cannot qualify for traditional fishing,” ani Carpio.
