Amid news good and bad, environmentalists worldwide rejoiced over a milestone development.
At their latest meeting in Bangkok last week, parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) voted to increase protection for five species of commercially exploited sharks— oceanic whitetip, porbeagle, and three species of hammerheads (the scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, and smooth hammerhead)—as well as two species of manta rays (Manta bistrosis and Manta alfredi). CITES is a multilateral treaty signed in 1973, protecting more than 34,000 species of animals and plants.
So what does this mean to us? The Philippines is a signatory of the influential and globally respected CITES, and according to our own Republic Act 8550, signed in 1998, which provides for “the development, management and conservation of the fisheries and aquatic resources,” all species listed in CITES are automatically protected in the Philippines.
Oceanic whitetips, hammerheads and mantas live in our waters, so catching them is now officially banned here. “We have a growing fishery for manta and shark for fins, so the listings will surely ensure the animals are protected from exploitation,” says Dr. AA Yaptinchay of the nonprofit watchdog, research and advocacy group Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines.
“CITES now regulates the trade of these species internationally, so with the catching and trading of these species now banned, the Philippines should have nothing to trade internationally.”
Of course, as with all laws, it will all boil down to implementation, Yaptinchay says. Still, commercial fishermen who still think they can raid Philippine waters with impunity for these animals and sell them are facing a shrinking global market.
The general public would do well to stop patronizing establishments that sell what have become, in this day and age, “immoral” delicacies like shark’s fin soup and manta ray meat; millions of sharks die useless deaths every year because of this soup alone, which is consumed mainly for its prestige and cost.
If such renowned establishments as the Peninsula and Shangri-La groups of hotels worldwide have junked such items from their menu, why can’t other places do the marine ecosystem a favor, and follow suit?
