“It’s as good as passed.”
Cebu Provincial Boardmember Thadeo Ouano over the weekend said the proposed amendment to a provincial fisheries ordinance to impose a ban in the catching of all species of shark will smoothly sail through when the PB tackles the measure on third and final reading today.
Ouano, who authored the proposed amendment to Ordinance 2012-5, said he does not expect any opposition when the PB convenes at 2 p.m.
“They will just read the title and it will be approved,” Ouano told Cebu Daily News. Under the present Provincial Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of Cebu, it is prohibited to “hunt, catch, possess, transport, sell, buy, distribute, wound or kill” thresher sharks, whale sharks, sun fish and giant manta rays.
He said the PB saw the need to amend the law, specifically to include hammerhead sharks in the red list, after the provincial task force on anti-illegal fishing and as well as environmentalists have seen the rise in the trafficking of shark meat and fins in the province.
Ouano, who represents Cebu’s 6th district, said Lapu-Lapu City may opt to adopt the provincial ordinance to enable the city government to join the local government’s efforts to protect and conserve shark species in the province.
Residents of barangay Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City have recently called on City Hall to act on the foul odor emitted by shark fins being dried under the sun in the area.
Since the city does not have an ordinance banning shark trade and Lapu-Lapu is not a component city of the province, Capitol authorities do not jurisdiction to act on the complaint.
Ouano said Lapu-Lapu City via a City Council resolution can adopt the ordinance while “they craft a separate one” that fits the current situation of shark trading in the city.
“To make it faster, they can just adopt the provincial ordinance while they make their own. I fully support that move,” said Ouano, who chairs the province’s committee on environment and natural resources.
“Let Lapu-Lapu protect all the shark species like what we are doing here in the province,” he said.
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