A massive seizure in the Philippines of 200 tons of illegally harvested giant mussel shells has highlighted the growth of an illegal trade that has increased as a result of a suppression of the sale of elephant tusks.
Authorities in the country, which is home to the world’s giant tropical mussel species, said shells worth about 1.2 billion pesos ($ 25 million) were found in the sting in the western province of Palawan on the remote Green Island in the Sulu sea found, local news outlet Rappler reported.
Four suspects were arrested, and the seizure included the tridacna gigas, the world’s largest mussel species.
According to Commissioner Genito Basilio of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Palawan District, the raid, which took place on Friday, is the largest in Palawan, according to Rappler.
That easily beats the previous record for an 80-tonne confiscation in the province – a syrupy hotspot – worth about $ 3.3 million, which was discovered during a raid in nearby Johnson Island last month.
Jovic Fabello, a spokesman for the province’s sustainable development council, described taking giant mussels out of their natural habitat as a form of intergenerational crime. ‘
“These people are digging up and killing giant mussels,” Fabello said, adding that such actions “will permanently affect the marine ecosystem and that future generations will not be deprived of the benefits,” Agence France Presse said. report.
Most of the world’s giant tropical mussels are in the Philippines. Giant mussels, locally known as taklobo, can grow larger than three feet and weigh up to 600 pounds.
The mussels are considered essential for the local marine ecosystem because they house algae which are an important food source for many of the fish species that humans eat.
However, conservationists have sounded the alarm over the increase in demand for creatures due to an increased scarcity of ivory, following a suppression of the global trade in elephant tusks. Mussel shells are popular for their meat and are also used as an alternative to ivory for a range of products, such as earrings and chandeliers.
Punishment in the Philippines for the death of an endangered species can be a fine of up to one million pesos ($ 20,000) and a prison sentence of 12 years, the BBC reported.
In 2019, the Philippines protested against the harvesting of giant mussels by Chinese vessels in the Western Philippine Sea, Rappler reports.
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