Edu Rama mulls ordinance to protect sharks and rays

CEBU CITY

A member of the Cebu City Council wants to ban the purchase, killing and vending of sharks and rays in Cebu City after noting that no such law existed in the city.

“There is an existing ordinance that bans the buying and selling of the sharks and rays in the province, so we also should have an ordinance in the city so that we can help the province,” explained Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr. in Cebuano.

Rama also proposes to ban all transactions in restaurants and wet markets that relate to the fishing, vending and purchase of all species of sharks and rays in Cebu City.

Rama noted that thresher sharks, sting rays, and manta rays were still being killed and then sold in some markets in Cebu City even when these are on the list of endangered species.

According to Rama, the proposal will also protect Cebu’s tourism industry.

“I saw how a strong typhoon badly damaged Malapascua Island but then in just months, it was able to recover because of tourism from sharks. Sharks are worth more alive than dead,” said Rama.

“Malapascua is known for their thresher sharks, basically, many tourists from all over the world visit Malapascua because of them. Thresher sharks only exist in Cebu,” he added.

Under Rama’s proposed ordinance, the Cebu City Bantay Dagat Commission in coordination with other law enforcement agencies will be tasked to apprehend those found killing, buying, or selling sharks and rays.

In November 2016, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña issued an executive order prohibiting the fishing, possessing, transporting and selling of any species of sharks, rays, and chimaeras within the city’s territorial jurisdiction.

Osmeña said the city would continue to monitor markets to avoid the selling of sharks and bring down the demand for the endangered species.