General Provisions Relating to Commercial Fisheries.
Section 16
SEC. 16. General Provisions Relating to Commercial Fisheries. — To encourage and promote fishing in international waters, the Bureau is directed to make a study and a proposal to the Council, within the first year after the effectivity of this Decree, on the measures to be undertaken to encourage Filipinos to operate fishing boats in international waters. Every vessel of Philippine registry of not less than ten gross tons nor more than five hundred gross tons, which is operated exclusively as a fishing vessel for catching and transporting fish in the territorial waters of the Philippines, shall be required to carry only one licensed navigator and one licensed engineer regardless of grade or rank to man such fishing vessel. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any fishing vessel shall be provided with adequate medical supplies and lifeboats to be determined by the Bureau of Fisheries; and any fishing vessel of not less than twenty (20) gross tons shall have in its employ a registered nurse or a person qualified as a first aider as certified by a government physician. The provisions of any law to the contrary notwithstanding, fishermen on board fishing vessels engaged in fishing operations are hereby exempted from the provision of the Blue Sunday Law. Membership under the Social Security Act shall be optional for fishermen but shall be compulsory for other employees of the industry who are permanently employed. The total number of working hours of a fisherman and employee on board a fishing vessel, whether continuous or broken, shall not exceed eight hours a day: Provided, That work rendered in excess thereof shall be treated as overtime. The responsibility of keeping a record of overtime services rendered shall devolve upon the navigator of the vessel. The skipper or any employee on board a fishing vessel capable of operating radio transceivers of not more than three hundred watts shall be authorized by the Radio Control Board to operate such transceivers during fishing operations without the necessity of taking the prescribed examinations pursuant to the radio laws and regulations of the Philippines: Provided, That no franchise shall be required and in lieu thereof the Radio Control Board shall issue a permit to all applicants of radio transceivers of not more than three hundred watts.