We would like to believe that the first ever Sharks Protection Summit in Cebu was a certified success.
The public sector led by the Cebu Province, the office of Cebu City Councilor Nida Cabrera and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) gave their open and unqualified support to the historic event.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Cebu immediately acted to remove a barrier in the enforcement of the sharks protection ordinance by amending it to cover all forms of sharks species. It has been approved on second reading.
The participants gave their full commitment in various forms to ensure the full implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Protection and Management of Sharks (NPOA-Sharks) which the Department of Agriculture and BFAR promulgated in 2009.
Ten years before its promulgation, in 1999, an International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks) was adopted by the 23rd session of the UN FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), in “recognition of the expanding global catch of sharks and the potential negative impacts on shark populations”.
The adoption of NPOA-Sharks acknowledges the commitment by the Philippine Government, as member of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to set its own Plan of Action to protect, conserve and sustainably manage and act on various issues involving sharks.
The NPOA has one of its main objectives to contribute to IPOA Shark Action Plan by targeting minimum requirements of a National Shark Plan, as follows:
1. Ensure that shark catches from directed and non-directed fisheries are sustainable.
2. Assess threats to shark populations, determine and protect critical habitats and implement harvesting strategies consistent with the principles of biological sustainability and rational long-term economic use.
3. Identify and pay attention, in particular, to vulnerable or threatened species.
4. Improve and develop frameworks for establishing and coordinating effective consultation involving stakeholders in research, management and educational initiatives within and between States.
5. Minimize unutilized incidental catches of sharks
6. Contribute to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function.
7. Minimize waste and discards from shark fisheries in accordance with paragraph 7.2.2g of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (e.g., requiring the retention of sharks from which fins are removed).
8. Encourage full use of dead sharks.
9. Facilitate improved species-specific catch and landings data and monitoring of shark fisheries.
10. Facilitate the identification and reporting of species biological and trade data.
Then, last Saturday, news of the interception by the Cebu Provincial Task Force Kalikasan led by Loy Madrigal and its subsequent release of 5,000 kilos of a 20-foot container van of blue shark fins in Cebu City as, per news report, “ordered” by the BFAR, dampened the euphoria of many who were at the Summit.
The incident should make stakeholders ask how consistent and committed are we in protecting and managing our biodiversity including shark species and in particular, in implementing the NPOA-Sharks.
These are among the questions that come to mind: Has proper verification been made by the agency that the shark catch were sustainably harvested or were they incidental catches?
What happened to the sharks from which the fins were removed? Were threats to blue sharks previously assessed, monitoring of sharks fisheries done and landing data known as well?
The NPOA-Sharks itself recognizes that “there has been limited information and reporting records on each of these species nationwide. Opportunistic inventory studies in the past made it possible to come up with a species list for the country.
However, since knowledge and capacity for shark biodiversity assessment is generally lacking, problems in relation to species identification, catch reporting and monitoring abound.
There is, thus, great difficulty in assessing status of populations and in providing appropriate management measures.” (Chapter2, 2.1)
One thing is certain – we cannot afford a further decimation of the shark species. As the NPOA-Sharks admitted, “On a global basis, shark fisheries belong to the unmonitored, unregulated and unmanaged (IUU) resources”.
This incident came at a most inappropriate time when the Philippines’ action to stop, deter and prevent IUU fishing is under review by the EU Commission.
While we await the national government’s stand on shark finning and full implementation of the NPOA-Sharks, we commend the Cebu province in leading the way for an all-out protection of all shark species.
Never have we seen a no-nonsense enforcement of our fisheries laws than what we are witnessing now under the leadership of Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III.
Mabuhay, Governor Junjun Davide and your chief enforcer, Loy Madrigal. By protecting our seas, you are paving the way for a more sustainable management of our fisheries.
It is a cherished legacy that positively impacts not just food security but alleviates poverty, especially of our artisanal fisherfolks and their families, as well.