22 MANTA RAYS BUTCHERED
by Delfin T. Mallari Jr. (PDI Southern Luzon Bureau)

LUCENA CITY - At least 22 endangered manta rays were seized Monday at a checkpoint set up on Maharlika Highway in Barangay Talipan, Pagbilao, Quezon, by authorities and environmentalists.
Task Force Matatag confiscated the manta rays (Manta birostris) from the driver of a fish delivery vehicle, an Isuzu Elf bearing Plate No. WTR-161. The task force was composed of representatives from the Quezon Province Agriculture Office, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, police and Tanggol Kalikasan.
The manta rays, also known as birds of the sea, came from San Francisco town in the Bondoc Peninsula.
The manta rays, along with several Styrofoam boxes of assorted fishes, were about to be delivered at the fish port in Barangay Dalahican in time for the afternoon market trading.
Driver Fernando de Una, a resident of Barangay Casay in San Francisco, identified the owner of the cargo as a certain Danny Tan also from his town.
De Una said the manta rays were caught in the waters off San Francisco town in Tayabas Bay. The biggest among the seized manta rays weighed at least 50kg and the smallest, 15kg. Task Force Matatag required the service of a pay loader to transfer the seized manta rays to a dump truck.
Under Fisheries Administrative Order 193-Series of 1998, the owner of the cargo and the driver face criminal charges, according to Tanggol Kalikasan Area Director Atty. Asis Perez. The administrative order prohibits the selling, possession, poaching, transporting and exporting of whale sharks and manta rays.
Based on the files of the International Conservation Union (ICU), an international watchdog of endangered species, Tanggol Kalikasan said the manta rays, also called a "flattened out shark" was considered a "threatened" sea creature.
"The manta rays are now under heavy poaching due to the increasing demand for their meat, which, eaters believe, has potent curative value. The meat commands high prices in high-end Chinese restaurants where it is being served as an exotic delicacy with aphrodisiac properties," Perez said.
The ICU said manta rays were hunted principally for their gill rakers, the most expensive part of the marine fish. The gill rakers are exported to Japan and Hong Kong for their medicinal value.
The manta ray is considered one of the five largest species fish in the world. It can grow up to eight meters wide and weigh up to more than 400 kg.
The seized manta rays were distributed to at least three local jails in Lucena City and Pagbilao as food for the inmates.
 

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