BFAR tells Daanbantayan: Stop shark trade

Hmmerhead Shark (Contributed)

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 urges Daanbantayan Municipal Government to apprehend the people behind the sale of a juvenile hammerhead shark meat in their wet market.

BFAR-7 Assistant Director Allan Poquita said they can provide technical assistance but the local government has the primary responsibility.

“The LGU should catch the violators and secure affidavits. They should then coordinate with us in the BFAR. If the LGU won’t file a case, then we will,” Poquita said.

If a certain species of fish is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), then a formal case may be pursued against perpetrators under Republic Act 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.

Section 97 of RA8550 states that “it shall be unlawful to fish or take rare, threatened or endangered species as listed in the Cites and as determined by the Department. Violators will face imprisonment of 12 to 20 years and/or a fine of P120,000 and forfeiture of the catch, and the cancellation of fishing permit.

Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) and the great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran) are included in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as endangered.

The smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena) is included in the vulnerable list.

According to Greenpeace Southeast Asia Ocean Campaigner Vince Cinches, the juvenile hammerheads sold in the Daanbantayan Island market appeared to be a scalloped hammerhead.

Poquita said they received verbal reports about it, but this has not been documented.

The scalloped hammerhead shark is listed under Article III of Cites which requires an export permit issued by the Management Authority of the State which wishes to trade the species under Article III. But effective this September, the scalloped hammerhead will be listed under Article II of Cites wherein trade of this species will require the same export permit which can only be issued if the species was legally obtained and if the export will not be detrimental to the survival of the species.

Cites is focused on trade of wildlife. But the scalloped hammerhead shark has been identified as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Locally, there is no specific law prohibiting the catching of hammerhead sharks. A Cebu Provincial Ordinance was passed in 2010 prohibiting the hunting, sale, buying or killing of “vulnerable species” of fish. The ordinance named thresher sharks, giant manta rays and sun fish in the list and just recently the protection of whale sharks. Hammerhead sharks were not mentioned.

Which is why, according to BFAR-7 Director Andres Bojos, there is a need to craft a law specifically to protect hammerhead sharks. Although RA 8550 and other national laws have prohibitions already, these are general and may not be strong enough, he said.

“In the absence of a specific law, we will struggle in court,” Bojos said.

Policy options

Aside from the Capitol ordinance, Bojos said Daanbantayan may also make a municipal ordinance. He will bring up the matter in a meeting with the Coastal Law Enforcement Alliance Region VII (Clear-7) on May 5.

Clear-7 is composed of fishing law enforcement offices including the Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, PNP Maritime, National Bureau of Investigation, AFP Central Command and Department of Environment and Natural Resources among others. The Cebu Provincial Capitol’s consultant on peace and order and head of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force, Col. Romeo Tapayan, is part of the alliance.

Conservation categories

A vulnerable species is one which has been categorized by the IUCN as likely to become Endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve.

An endangered species is a species of organisms that will likely become extinct.

Critically endangered Critically Endangered species are those that are facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Fisherfolk Month

In a related development, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 has new “fisherfolk directors” who will sit down with the BFAR offices as an observer and liaise between the agency and the fisherfolks for the whole month of May.

May has been declared as the Farmers and Fisherfolks’ Month.

Expedita Acibo, the regional fisherfolk director, is from the Municipality of Bindoy, Negros Oriental. There are also new provincial directors: Lowell Tutor for Bohol and Diosdado Legaspino for Cebu, Alfredo Cochoco for Negros Oriental and Flor Marie Padayhag for Siquijor.

Aside from sitting in the provincial fisheries offices, the new directors will serve as the agency’s partner for one whole year by lobbying the concerns of the fisherfolks.