THE Lapu-Lapu City Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (CFARMC) confiscated endangered shells that were included in the sacks of shells from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental yesterday morning.
The council found some 40 pieces of Samong or top shells, a type of endangered shell, among the sacks of other shells that were delivered in Barangay Mactan past 9 a.m.
Adelino Padilla, agricultural technologist of CFARMC, said they received information from the monitoring team of the City-owned material recovery facility in Barangay Mactan about several sacks of smelly shells delivered in the area.
Padilla said they found out that the shells were owned by Naomi Pugoy of Sagay City. However, Padilla said that the owner denied transporting the top shells because she knew that, under the law, these were endangered.
“Ingon siya sa Bacolod di gyud na makalusot. Ilang alegasyon basin daw og gibinioangan sila ug probably nasuyaan sa negosyo (According to the owner, they cannot go out from Bacolod without proper inspection from the authorities. The owner believed that probably someone placed the plastic of top shells beside their sacks of shells to destroy their business),” Padilla said.
Pugoy showed a copy of the “domestic fisheries quarantine clearance” issued by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Provincial Fisheries Office in Bacolod City last Oct. 10 to CFARMC.
According to the clearance, the sacks contained sikad-sikad or mixed shells.
“This is to certify that the Fish and Fishery Aquatic Products as described below was inspected for passage in accordance with the provisions of FAO No. 192 series of 1997,” the clearance read.
Because of the clearnace issued by the Provincial Fisheries Office in Bacolod, the CFARMC released the sacks of mixed shells, but kept the plastic of top shells.
Padilla said the council still issued two citation tickets to the shell owner for violation of the Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and Comprehensive Environmental and Sanitation Code of Lapu-Lapu.
He said that the council will keep the top shells as evidence.
