Government scuba cops . . . [found this in CDNN]

[TomvdH]

Government scuba cops enforce diving regulations

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by EVAN T. ALLARD

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines (14 Nov 2004) -- The government has announced that a team of "scuba cops" will patrol marine protected areas in the Philippines to help prevent diving accidents and ensure divers abide by rules aimed at protecting coral reefs and marine wildlife.

The announcement followed the deaths of two Japanese scuba divers in Cebu, a popular holiday destination for Japanese tourists.

According to local officials, six dive rangers have been trained to patrol Apo Reef, a marine protected area and a renowned dive destination.

In January, the team will begin monitoring dive tourist groups to ensure there are no violations of government rules and regulations aimed at protecting both divers and coral reefs under the jurisdiction of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB).

The PAMB has also launched a high-speed patrol vessel to help patrol the marine reserve and evacuate injured divers.

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[Tim Wong]

Great. More red tape................... Cure the cause and not the symptom.

 

[orangeBloke]

I dunno, sounds like it might be a good thing if it helps protect the reefs and the tourists and makes for better practices amongst the operators

 

[shugar]

Great. More red tape................... Cure the cause and not the symptom.

remember that in a third world country economics reigns supreme. no amount of legislature will protect that sea turtle if it means a fisherman being able to feed his family for a week with it.

this is actually a very commendable thing for the local govt. of dumaguete to do... 6 cops is not a lot but it's a very good start. the operators (both land and sea based) pretty much do their job in helping keep things cool... it's really making the local communities see that by keeping things nice and pretty the tourists come and spend...

Jag

 

[Tim Wong]

Let's see how far they go with this program. As far as I know they have their hands full addressing kidnapping and terrorism for the last few decade. I think this is more like a lip service in light of the 2 deaths. In one of the articles, I believe it was mention that the concerned resort where the death occured, was in violation of some local policy at that time.

 

[TomvdH]

Let's see how far they go with this program. As far as I know they have their hands full addressing kidnapping and terrorism for the last few decade. I think this is more like a lip service in light of the 2 deaths. In one of the articles, I believe it was mention that the concerned resort where the death occured, was in violation of some local policy at that time.

I did not make a comment earlier when I posted this news article, but I would like to now. The Philippines has an impressive history of supporting marine ecology and trying to balance environmental and business needs, on land and in the sea.

It is the 'effort to improve' that we should focus on, in my humble opinion. My hats off to anyone who try’s to improve.

 

[orangeBloke]

I agree with TomvdH on this. The Philippines has done a lot to preserve its reefs. Every little bit helps. There is no one big answer to protecting the reefs so it has to be done in stages.

The death of two divers is a sad and unfortunate event but if the upshot is that better measures are put in place to protect divers and the reefs then at least there's something positive in their loss. The deaths of the Lonergans in Australia similarly led to tougher saftey laws being enforced there which have now resulted in some of the highest safety standards in the world.

 

[Tim Wong]

No questions on the marine conservation part. It is the other part that needs to be seen.

 

[Twomixdiver]

Those two Japanese scuba divers were both instructors who decided to go on a night dive to 60 meters, single tank, on air.

This information is taken first hand from their boss in the Mactan Resort where they were employed.

 

[Hank49]

remember that in a third world country economics reigns supreme. no amount of legislature will protect that sea turtle if it means a fisherman being able to feed his family for a week with it.

this is actually a very commendable thing for the local govt. of dumaguete to do... 6 cops is not a lot but it's a very good start. the operators (both land and sea based) pretty much do their job in helping keep things cool... it's really making the local communities see that by keeping things nice and pretty the tourists come and spend...

Jag

This is a very good thing. The only problem is that with only one patrol boat...and the Philippines is big as far as coastline....well, at least it's a start. One thing they should be allowed to do is blow the hell out of any boat carrying dynamite. I used to hear dynamite giong off right off of Punta Engano on Mactan in 1990. Right off the second largest city in the country. That is so deep rooted though......Dynamite fishing and deforestation is what hurt the Philippine reefs so badly.
And isn't Apo Reef more up near Mindoro? I thoght Apo Island was down near Dumagete, Negros/Cebu. Hank