The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 11: July 1998
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Closure of Philippines whale shark fishery
Whale sharks have been hunted traditionally (with spears and gaff
hooks from small boats) in the Visayas and Mindanao areas of the
Philippines, providing food for local fishing communities. However,
the rising value of whale shark products in other countries (particularly
Taiwan, where meat sells for up to US$15/kg) has stimulated larger
harvests over the past seven years. Worryingly, recent catches in these
areas may have fallen by 70%-80%, despite increasing fishing effort.
Whale shark Rhincodon typus.
Photo: © Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch
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A new concentration of whale sharks was discovered in January this
year by a local diver in the waters of Donsol, Bicol region, where they had
not previously been fished. A dozen or more sharks could be encountered
here in a day, without the use of spotter planes. Monitoring was immediately
commenced by a team from the World Wildlife Fund - Philippines,
Silliman University, Hubbs Sea World Research Institute, Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration, and the Department of Agriculture. Some tagging was
undertaken (including the attachment of one satellite tag). The team also
worked with local authorities to protect whale sharks in the area (the
government of Donsol issued a municipal resolution to protect the sharks
on 9 March), and to increase local revenues through the development of
ecotourism involving whale shark interaction tours, in collaboration with
the Provincial Tourism Council.
However, on 12 March, buyers of whale sharks arrived from the
Visayas region. Seven sharks were killed and sold for the export under
licence of their meat and fins to Taiwan. WWF-Philippines immediately
expressed concern that the population could be wiped out in just two
weeks of intensive fishing, preventing the establishment of a highly
valuable tourist industry. They urged the imposition of a moratorium
on the fishery and trade in Bicol until sufficient data could be gathered on
population size, movement and sustainable use.
News of the plight of the Donsol whale sharks soon reached the
Philippines national press. Three days after an article appeared on the
front page of a national newspaper, the government (Department of
Agriculture) banned the fishery. On 26 March 1998, Fisheries
Administrative Order No. 193 was issued prohibiting the catching,
selling, purchasing and possessing, transporting and exporting of
whale sharks and manta rays (which are also caught in large numbers
in the Visayas and Mindanao) throughout the Philippines.
WWF is currently helping the community in Donsol to cope with
the massive visitor influx to their small town. A programme is being
developed for them which will ensure well-managed tourism activities
and protection of the whale shark and its habitat.
The whale shark season ended abruptly on 22 May this year, but
they are expected to return in November or December.
For more information contact:
Mr A.A. Yaptinchay,
WWF-Philippines,
23-A Maalindog St.,
U.P. Village,
Diliman,
Quezon City 1101, Philippines.
Fax: + 63 2 426 39 27,
Email: kkp@mozcom.com
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