MANILA, Philippines – The new fisheries law issued by the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress by China over the South China Sea will be difficult to implement, Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon said on Friday.

“That is difficult to implement because there are a lot of claimant countries and their islets are populated..especially in the Spratlys,” Bito-onon said in a phone interview.

Bito-onon, whose portion of jurisdiction is in the Spratlys, said other claimants over South China Sea, like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan have their own airstrips, garrisons and ports.

“How would you restrict that, how about the freedom of navigation, most especially to fishermen? That is international waters,” he said.

Effective January 1, foreign fishing vessels are subject to approval to enter waters under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government. It also previously imposed an air defense zone.