LIPA CITY, Philippines--Following last week’s warning from shark specialist Dr. Simon Oliver that the Philippines might soon loose its population of thresher sharks, acting Batangas Gov. Mark Leviste says he has asked the provincial board to conduct an inquiry into the continued slaughter of the endangered species for their meat and fins.

Leviste said he would like to find out who the hunters of the sharks were, the manner by which shark meat and fins were sold, and how they were allowed to be sold openly in public markets.

Last month, the environmental group First Philippine Conservation Inc. reported that at least 40 thresher sharks had been killed in the coastal villages of Wawa, Pagkilatan and Mabacong in Batangas City, Bauan town and Barangay Talaga in Mabini town since last Christmas.

An environmentalist familiar with the trade said shark meat was usually sold at P150 per kilo and shark fins at P1,000 per kilo in the public markets of Batangas City and Lucena City in Quezon.

The provincial board has already coordinated with the Department of Trade and Industry to check on the sale of shark meat and fins.

"The main reason why these people are confident in hunting sharks is because they have potential buyers. We will investigate the situation and look at the root cause," Leviste said in a phone interview.

He said was forming a task force to monitor thresher sharks in the Batangas Bay.

He said identifying the people behind the slaughter of the sharks and the trade in their meat and fins and prosecuting them required "political will."

Leviste said he was open to exploring alternative livelihood opportunities for fishermen, such as a possible shark dive tourism schemes in the area.

Based on experience elsewhere, Oliver said that Batangas City could earn some P16,000 daily and up P5.8 million annually for a single live thresher shark used as a tourist attraction.

Philippine Tourism Authority General Manager Robert Dean Barbers has already asked the local government units in coastal areas like Batangas City to pass ordinances banning the slaughter of thresher sharks.

He also belied claims by local officials that there are no laws prohibiting the hunting of thresher sharks, noting that it is prohibited by the Wildlife Act and the Philippine Fisheries Code, which prohibit "fishing or taking of rare, threatened or endangered species."

Oliver, chair of the UK-based Thresher Shark Research and Conservation Group, said in an earlier interview that the fishery situation involving thresher sharks in the Batangas Bay area could not be sustained for long as the sharks would eventually be hunted out of existence at the current rate of butchering.

The three species of thresher sharks -- namely bigeye, common thresher shark and pelagic thresher shark -- found in Philippine waters have been classified as a "vulnerable species" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

This means that the thresher sharks are now facing a "high risk of extinction in the wild," Oliver said.

In a separate interview, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office chief Laudemir Salac said he was aware of the reports on thresher shark hunting in Batangas City but the office could not intervene on the matter since thresher sharks fell "under the mandate of the BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources)."

The Philippine Wildlife Resources Conservation Act or RA 9147 prohibits collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their byproducts and derivatives, subject to fines of up P1,000 to P300,000 and imprisonment of 2 to 4 years, depending on the category under which the species was listed.