Restos, hotels urged not to serve shark

The local chapter of the environmental group Greenpeace will meet with representatives of Cebu City’s hotels and restaurants to ask them not to serve sharks and other endangered marine species to guests.

Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace, said they will include in their request such marine life as turtles, parrot fish (molmol) and humphead wrasse (mameng).

“We want to be sustainable here and this will allow the sea to recover,” Cinches said in a phone interview.

Cebu province’s ordinance authored by the late Provincial Board member Thadeo Ouano only covers sharks.

The Provincial Fisheries Ordinance bans the capture, transport and sale of all shark species and their parts in the entire province.

“We will also ask the province to also issue an order in protecting these other species,” Cinches said.

Cinches will also present tomorrow other alternative species that can be part of the menu like humble tuna, sardines and grouper (lapu-lapu).

“We will also discuss the kinds of fishing ground so that we can help them identify what kind of species are rare and what kind of species that are more abundant in the areas,” Cinches said.

He said they plan to meet with Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña since only Cebu City is not covered with the ordinance protecting sharks and rare species.

“We also encourage Mayor Osmeña to also issue an order for Cebu City for protection of sharks and other species,” he said.

Cinches said a signed order can carry sanctions for those violating it.

Thresher and silky sharks and mobula rays will be listed in the Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of

Wild Fauna and Flora after 110 out of 182 countries voted for its inclusion last October.