Page:Urbiztondo Ordinance No. 14 (2022).pdf/45

 b. Municipal Waters include not only streams, lakes and tidal waters within this municipality, not being the subject of private ownership, and not comprised within national parks, public forests, timber lands, forest reserves, or fishery reserves, but also marine waters included between two (2) lines drawn perpendicular to the general coastline from points where the boundary lines of the municipality to the sea at low tide and a third parallel with the general coastline and fifteen (15) kilometers from it.

c. Vessels include every sort of boat, craft, or other artificial contrivance used as a means of transportation on water.

Sec. 2. Fishery Rentals, Fees and Charges. This municipality shall have the exclusive authority to grant the following fishery privileges within its municipal waters and impose rentals, fees, or charges therefrom:

a. To erect fish corrals, oyster, mussel, or other aquatic beds or bangus fry areas.

b. To gather, take or catch bangus fry, prawn fry or kawag-kawag or fry of other species and fish from municipal waters by nets, traps or other fishing gears. However, marginal fishermen shall be exempt from any rentals, charge or any other imposition whatsoever.

Sec. 3. Grant of Fishery Rights by Public Auction. Exclusive fishery privileges to erect fish, corrals, oyster mussel of aquatic beds or "bangus"fry areas and to take or catch "bangus" fry or "kawag-kawag" or fry of other species of fish for propagation shall be awarded to the highest bidder in a public auction to be conducted by a committee upon authorization of the Sangguniang Bayan.

However, duly registered organizations and cooperatives of marginal fishermen shall have the preferential right to such fishery privileges without being required to undergo the bidding. In the absence of such organizations and cooperatives or upon failure to exercise their preferential right, other parties may participate in the said public bidding.

For this purpose, there is hereby created a committee to conduct the public auction to be constituted as follows:

a. The Mayor or his duly authorized representative as Chairman;

b. Chairman on Committee on Appropriations and Chairman on Committee on Agriculture of the Sangguniang Bayan as members to be designated by said body;

c. The Municipal Treasurer; and

d. The Municipal Engineer.

The Committee shall advertise the call for sealed bids for the leasing or a zone or zones of municipal waters in public auction for two (2) consecutive weeks in the bulletin board of the municipal hall. If no bids are received within two (2) weeks, such notice shall be posted for another two (2) weeks. If after said two (2) notices for the grant of exclusive fishery rights through public auction, there are no interested bidders, the Sangguniang Bayan shall grant the rights within the definite area or portion of the municipal waters to any interested individual upon payment of a license fee fixed herein. The notice advertising the call for bids shall indicate the date and time when such bids shall be filed with the Municipal Treasurer.

An application to participate in the public bidding shall be submitted to the Municipal Mayor in a form prescribed therefor. Upon submitting a sealed bid, a person shall accompany such bid with a deposit of at least 10% of the submitted bid price which amount shall be deducted from the first rental by the person should the bid be awarded to him.

At the time and place designated in the notice, the Committee sitting en banc shall open all the bids and award the lease to the qualified bidder offering the highest bid. The lease shall be executed within ten (10) days after the award is made by a committee and if the successful bidder refuses to accept, or fails or neglects to execute the lease within such time, his deposit shall be forfeited to the municipal government, in such a case bidding shall be held in the manner provided above.

The deposits of the unsuccessful bidders shall be returned upon the execution of the lease contract by the successful bidder or before the calling of another bid.