THE PHILIPPINE Coast Guard (PCG) has seized about two tons of shark meat and fins worth some P5 million from a ship docked at the port of Zamboanga City.
PCG spokesperson Commander Armand Balilo said the Coast Guard station in Zamboanga received a tip the passenger and cargo vessel MV Trisha Kerstin 2 was carrying the banned items from Tawi-Tawi.
PCG and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources personnel boarded the vessel on Friday and found two crates of shark and whale shark meat, as well as fins and tails.
Meat from sharks and whale sharks are a prized delicacy here and around Asia. Whale sharks, however, are an endangered species and are protected under the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.
Balilo said the contraband was seized after the ship’s captain, Joel Mendoza, failed to present a BFAR permit to transport the meat to Zamboanga City.
Under the law, it is unlawful for anyone to catch, transport, export or sell endangered marine species identified by the government, with violators facing up to a P5-million fine or 20 years in prison.