BFAR Region 7: report immediately to authorities those people who are possessing or collecting giant clams.

PRESS RELEASE

October 18, 2019

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR Region 7) is appealing before the public to report immediately to authorities those people who are possessing or collecting giant clams.

BFAR Region 7 Director Alfeo Piloton urges people to alert law enforcers or the bureau if in case they catch someone collecting, possessing or selling giant clams - an act which is strictly prohibited under the existing laws.

Recently, BFAR Region 7 personnel joined the October 16 operation conducted by the local authorities from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine Air Force in intercepting two subjects from Cordova town, Cebu that allegedly possessed giant clams.

The authorities served warrant of arrest to two targets: one from Barangay Catarman and the other from Barangay Day-as.

The composite team, which includes about 10 personnel from BFAR 7, confiscated about 2,000 kilograms of giant clams that are worth P30 million.

These giant clams were then transported to BFAR 7 office in Cebu City on Wednesday late afternoon for safekeeping.

Appropriate charges were also filed against the violators. The possession of giant clams is a violation of Republic Act 10654 or an “Act to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.”

Giant clams, either fresh or fossilized, are also protected under international policies, particularly listed under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) Appendix II.

BFAR 7, for its part, extends its gratitude to the personnel from NBI and PAF commending their efforts to help preserve the country's natural assets.

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