NGO alleges massive illegal fish trade in Palawan

MANILA, Philippines - A non-government organization alleged that illegal live fish trade in the country has reached alarming levels and is accelerating the destruction of massive coral reefs particularly in the Palawan area.

Rod Saucelo of the Global Legal Action Against Climate Change (GLAACC) said, “The trade of live reef fish in the country goes on unabated and at the rate it’s going, critical coral reefs particularly in the Palawan area will soon be gone due to dynamite and cyanide fishing. It is high time that government steps in.”

In a statement, GLAACC said that based on recent reports that reached them, live reef fish trade in Palawan has resulted in dwindling fish stock, particularly grouper or mameng, and the destruction of coral reefs because fishermen resort to using cyanide, a highly toxic chemical.

Fishermen spray cyanide into the coral reefs to stun inhabiting fish so they can be easily caught by nets.

Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn is said to have issued a call for citizens to act against the thriving illegal live fish trade. This developed after truckloads of live reef fish suspected to have been captured using cyanide were intercepted by the city’s combined team of PNP and Special Operations Group (SOG) as the vehicles passed through Puerto Princesa City highway en route to major distribution points.

The provincial government of Palawan and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) should be at the forefront of efforts to put a stop to this environmental tragedy. The country is part of the Coral Triangle and Palawan accounts for more than 30 percent of the country’s coral reefs.

GLAACC reported that it was the PCSD that convened the Palawan live reef fish summit last year together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to discuss sustainable fishery management. At the summit, Dr. Geoffrey Muldoon, Live Reef Fish Strategy Leader for WWF’s Coral Triangle Program, estimated that 60 percent of all fish taken from Palawan’s reefs were juveniles. “This is an indication that the adults have been removed from the ecosystem and that it has been highly overfished,” Muldoon said.

Hagedorn also said that the same group of live fish traders who were recently apprehended in Puerto Princesa City used to operate in Coron where shipment of live fish via private plane is allowed. He said that in a matter of three years, live fish stock in Coron declined tremendously, compelling traders to move their operations in southern Palawan.

Hagedorn lamented that after destroying coral reefs in northern Palawan, the group will now conduct operations in southern Palawan.