A woman paints dried starfish with latex paint before selling it to a shop in Cebu City in this June 2011 file photo. Sacks of starfish were seized in Carmen town, northern Cebu last Saturday.
Authorities seized 25 sacks of starfish in Carmen town, northern Cebu last Saturday.
The cargo was supposed to be sold to a souvenir shop in Punta Engano, Lapu-Lapu City, according to the owners, two women aboard the truck.
They said the starfish were worth at least P15,000 and came from Bogo City.
The sacks weighing around 300 kilos were loaded in a truck that was flagged down by personnel of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).
“Starfish are considered an endangered species. The possession, sale, transport and marketing of endangered species is a violation of the law,” said lawyer Chad Estella, head of PENRO’s Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force.
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PENRO personnel are intercepting suspected cargos of illegally caught fish, including sharks and stingrays, as part of market denial.
The truck was impounded at the Capitol. The driver and cargo owners will attend a meeting today with the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Adjudication Board (FARAB) to determine their possible violations.
“This will serve as a notice to other similarly minded individuals that the province of Cebu instills our fight or crusade against the exploitation of marine resources,” said Estella./Palompon Institute of Technology Intern Jay-Ileen Engalla