In 2014 the Marine Wild Fauna Watch of the Philippines published the Philippine Aquatic Wildlife Rescue and Response Manual Series. The publication, one of which focuses on sharks and rays, aims to help address gaps and issues on threatened marine wildlife to protect and conserve marine biodiversity in the Coral Triangle.

The manuals seek to provide a standard to deal with responders of sharks and rays caught in nets or stranded, the common cause of their death, besides hunting for food. While sharks and rays are feared creatures, these seemingly dangerous predators are, in fact, endangered species. Among the threats to these marine wildlife are hunting for food and accidental catching or by-catch.

Rays are turned into a dish from Bicol called kinunot (literally, shredded) in coconut milk. Dried meat of sharks and rays were also popular for local consumption in the Visayas, until the fishing of giant manta ray and whale shark were banned in 1998.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported that the value of world trade in shark commodities approaches $1 billion per year.

Ecological functions

While these marine wildlife are feared because of their sheer appearance, their size or known feeding habits, sharks and rays have important ecological functions.

According to the country’s top biodiversity official, they are, in fact, ecosystem indicators.

“If you see sharks and sting rays, it only means that the marine ecosystem is healthy,” Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said. Lim said sharks, being on top of the food chain, plays an important role in maintaining a balanced marine ecosystem.

“Without these sharks, the population of certain species of fish would eventually grow and it will result in ecological imbalance,” she said.

While the protection of sharks and rays fall under the mandate and jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the DENR’s BMB is mandated to ensure the protection of key biodiversity areas through the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act.

Lim said to protect sharks and rays, there is a need to strengthen the country’s protected areas system where they thrive along with other marine species.

Environmental advocates, meanwhile, underscore the need to conserve the population of marine wildlife, including sharks and rays, among other species, to preserve the integrity of the country’s marine ecosystems.

Cebu City executive order

On November 15 Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña signed an executive order for the protection of shark and ray species, making the entire island-province of Cebu the first shark and ray sanctuary in the Philippines.

Along with environmentalists, scientists and interest groups, local officials in Cebu are now calling for the protection of sharks and other marine species at a national level through the creation of interconnected ocean sanctuaries.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia Oceans campaigner Vince Cinches, cofounder of Save Sharks Network of the Philippines, lauded and welcomed Osmeña’s action.

“The decision of Mayor Tomas Osmeña is important as it turns the whole of Cebu into a shark and ray sanctuary,” he said.

Shark summit

Greenpeace Southeast Asia led various stakeholders in holding the second Shark Summit in Dumaguete City early this month. The summit saw participants signing an agreement toward the protection of all shark and ray species.

According to Cinches, what was gained in Cebu and the implementation of the listing of sharks and rays in Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will not work unless protection is taken at the national level.

“The Philippine government needs to hasten the revision and passage of Senate Bill 905, which seeks to protect all shark and ray species found within the country’s exclusive economic zone,” he said.

Organized along with Save Philippine Seas and Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, the summit builds on the successful listing of thresher, mobula and silky sharks for protection under Appendix II of the Conference of Parties to the CITES.

The listing doubled to 20 percent the proportion of sharks targeted by the fin trade that are now regulated internationally.

It also means the species are now protected in the Philippines under Section 102 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Philippine Fisheries Code.

Market intervention

Bimbo Fernandez, executive assistant of the Office of the Mayor on Special Concerns, said Cebu City has always put the protection of key marine habitats within its jurisdiction as a priority.

He said market intervention is crucial to the overall efforts of protecting sharks, rays and the marine environment, as he called on the national government to pass a measure to sustainably manage shark and ray species.

Cebu City hosts the biggest fish market in the region, where catch from other parts of the country are being landed.

However, Cebu is the only province in the Philippines that bans the catching, selling, possession and trading of all shark species and its derivatives.

Greenpeace claims that Monad Shoal, near the island of Malapascua in Cebu’s Daanbantayan municipality, is the only place in the world where thresher sharks can be viewed with certainty.

According to Greenpeace, threshers have become the main feature of the scuba-dive tourism industry in Malapascua, which accounts for most of Daanbantayan’s economy, securing the livelihood of many in the municipality and its neighboring communities.

Welcome development

Teody Navea of Sanlakas, which represents municipal fishermen from various coastal communities in Cebu, said declaring the entire province a shark and rays sanctuary is a welcome development.

He said the shark and rays population have dwindled over the years because of hunting for food.

“We, from the municipal fishing communities, welcome this decision, as our livelihood and food is heavily dependent on the health of the seas. We haven’t seen them for years and we admit to hunting them down for food, as we are being robbed of the most important species every time commercial fishing operators cast their nets down in our waters,” he said.

Navea said protecting sharks and rays means protecting their fishing grounds and securing the future of their community.

Historical decision

Dr. Alessandro Ponzo of the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines said protecting sharks and rays is a welcome development for scientists.

“For us in the scientific community, the decision of Cebu City government is historical as shark and ray science points to an unprecedented decline of these species,” he said.

Despite progress made in science, there is a dearth of knowledge in shark and ray species diversity, habitat, biology and threats, Ponzo explained.

He said new species are being discovered during expeditions and market surveys.

“Rare species are even documented in Philippine waters, such as the megamouth shark, the country having the third-highest number of reports worldwide, and the critically endangered sawfish. We need to have science to inform us, in the best possible ways, on shark management,” he said.

According to Ponzo, moving forward as a country together is a must to reverse this trend in sharks and rays population decline. “If there are problems along the way, we can always fix it,” she said.

At the summit in Dumaguete City, Anna Oposa, executive director of Save Philippine Seas, underscored the need to engage various stakeholders, from policy-makers, scientists, advocates and youth to ensure sustainable management and conservation of sharks and rays.

The summit aims to review the accomplishments and gaps based on the commitments crafted during the 2014 Shark Summit, identify solutions and stakeholders to address gaps and other issues on shark management and conservation, and review and enhance proposed policies on shark protection.

“By bringing an interdisciplinary, multistakeholder group together, the Shark Summit is expected to play a significant role in strengthening the conservation of shark species in the Philippines, and ensuring that the plans created during the week are supported by commitments, enforceable legislation and management,” Oposa said.

National plan

The Philippines already has in place a National Plan of Action for Sharks, which provides the minimum requirement in shark conservation. According to Moonyeen Alava, executive director of Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation Inc., the government needs to focus its attention to ensuring that these species, as crucial indicator of a healthy marine ecosystem, will be sustainably managed and protected.

AA Yaptinchay, director of the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, said shark tourism is becoming more and more popular in the Philippines.

Sites, like Donsol for whale sharks, Tubbataha reefs for reef sharks and Monad shoal for thresher sharks, have become popular tourist spots, which only proves that protecting these marine wildlife species has direct socioeconomic benefits.

“Many more sites have this potential if only we could find a way to reduce the threat of unmanaged fisheries to their populations. This move is also critical to keep marine ecosystems healthy,” he said.