Preamble
WHEREAS, the productive potentialities of the vast fishing grounds and other fishery resources in the country upon which the people depend as major and cheap source of food are being greatly reduced through the employment of various methods of illegal fishing; WHEREAS, loss of human lives oftentimes occur and varied diseases and ailments are suffered by those who partake of fish and fishery products which have been illegally caught or gathered; WHEREAS, in the interest and welfare of the people who depend mostly upon fish and sea or marine products for their daily food, positive steps must be adopted by the government through interrelated programs and projects including subsidiary laws and measures towards the implementation thereof. NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order to be part of the law of the land, the following: