Atienza seeks stop to killing of thresher sharks off Batangas

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza yesterday moved to stop the reported slaughter of thresher sharks in the Verde Island Passage, asking law enforcers to help prevent the hunting and killing of the vulnerable species found off Batangas.

Atienza warned that the continuous hunting of thresher sharks could lead to serious decline in the species’ population and disturb the marine ecosystem, especially in the Verde Island Passage, which a study done by the US Smithsonian Institute regards as the “center of the center” of the world’s marine biodiversity.

“We should stop this slaughter to preserve the ecological balance of our priceless natural heritage,” he said.

Atienza said the police, Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources should closely monitor the activities of fishermen who hunt thresher sharks for their meat and fins.

He warned fishermen to stop their illegal activities or face prosecution.

“It is important to maintain the ecological balance,” he said. “All species in a particular ecosystem interrelate with each other in a cyclic-life sustaining way that taking out one of them will disturb the balance of nature which controls everything.”

According to the DENR, the thresher shark belongs to a type of mackerel shark or lamniformes, whose meat is considered to be very delectable.

Thresher sharks, which are primarily pelagic and highly migratory, have three species: the common thresher (Alopias vulpinus), the big eye thresher (Alopias supercilliosus), and the pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus), all found in temperate and tropical oceans of the world.

Currently, thresher sharks are reportedly being exploited by the commercial and sport fishing industry.

Thresher sharks have been classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2007.

President Arroyo issued Executive Order 578 creating the Verde Island Passage Task Force, headed by the DENR.

The task force is mandated to develop and implement the conservation and sustainable management plan for the Verde Island Passage.

The Verde Island Passage, situated between the islands of Luzon and Mindoro and part of the Sulu-Sulawesi marine eco-region, is found to have about 1,736 overlapping marine species over a 10-km x 10-km area – the highest concentration of marine life in the world.