The mollusk species is classified as ‘vulnerable’
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Three fishermen were arrested by Sagay City police last Thursday after 127 giant clams, weighing an estimated 1.5 tons, were confiscated in the city’s Barangay Molocaboc.
Police identified the arrested suspects as 60-year-old Felix Causapin, 49-year-old Lito Cañete, and 54-year-old Adan Atabelo, all residents of the said barangay.
Sagay City police chief, Police Major Antonio Benitez, Jr., said, while accompanied by officials from the Negros Occidental Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), Task Force Lawod, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources, they served search warrants against the suspects.
The warrants, issued earlier this month by Judge Joanne Fraces Nifras of the Municipal Trial Courts in Cities-Cadiz City, were in relation to violations of RA 10654, or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.
Sagay Marine Reserve resource assessment head Jose Roberto Togle said they previously received a report from a concerned citizen claiming the suspects had been hoarding clams since February. He explained, after Sagay Marine Reserve Superintendent Mayo Antonio Cueva ordered further investigation into the matter, their office has been verifying various reports over the past couple of months.
Togle added, the fishermen had allegedly been contracting with an anonymous buyer who offered to buy the clams at P1,000 per kilogram.
International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the giant clam a vulnerable species, which means, given current conditions, the species may soon be endangered. Meanwhile, National Geographic notes, the species’ adductor muscle is considered a delicacy. The organization also points out, overharvesting for food, shell, and the aquarium trade have contributed to its vulnerable status.
According to the law, offenders could potentially face fines equivalent to five times the value of the species or between P500,000 and P5,000,000; along with imprisonment from 12 to 20 years, a fine equivalent to twice the administrative fine, forfeiture of the species, and cancellation of their fishing permit.
In a statement, Sagay City Mayor Alfredo Marañon III called crimes against the environment “a crime against our very own survival as vulnerable species, like giant clams, play a critical role in protecting our reefs.”
He also recommended turning over the confiscated clams to the Museo sang Bata sang Negros, which is located in the city, for educational purposes./DGB, WDJ
