ZAMBOANGA CITY - Authorities seized 30 tons of giant clam shells locally known as “taklobo” during an operation in Patikul, Sulu last Monday, Dec. 9.
OPERATING troops look at giant clam shells piled up in a vacant lot in Barangay Taglibi, Patikul, Sulu. (Contributed photo by Ely Dumaboc)
The shells, scientifically known as Tridacna Gigas and estimated at around P45 million, were found piled up in a vacant lot in Barangay Taglibi.
The operating team, composed of the Sulu Maritime Police Station and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), confiscated the clam shells.
Lawmen are still looking for the owner and financier who remain missing.
The confiscated shells were brought to the MAFAR-Sulu office for inventory and disposition.
The gathering and selling of Tridacna Gigas, a protected species, is prohibited under the country’s environmental laws.
Section 102 of Republic Act 10654 or “An Act to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing" prohibits fishing or taking of rare, threatened or endangered species.
Its gathering is also barred in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, a global trade agreement to protect wildlife.