The Philippine coast guard is fighting against the illegal trafficking of giant shells, which appears to be increasingly replacing ivory trafficking.
When poachers cannot traffic ivory, they traffic shells. All the better if they are giant, extremely rare, and worth thousands, if not millions, of euros. That is what has happened in the Philippines, where the coast guard recently seized a cargo of 200 tonnes of shells worth approximately 20 million euros. It is one of the largest operations of this kind ever recorded in the country.
The seizure took place on Friday the 16th in the western province of Palawan, which is home to some of the largest species of tropical molluscs in the world and has consequently become a true poaching hotspot.
"Removing these enormous shells from their natural habitat is a form of intergenerational crime," Jovic Fabello, spokesperson for the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, told AFP. "It will have permanent effects on the marine ecosystem and future generations will be deprived of the benefits they offer."
Among the confiscated shells were some of the largest in the world, such as those of the giant clam, known locally as taklobo. Their valves grow to over a metre in length, weigh more than 250 kilograms, and harbour numerous marine algae that are the primary food source for many fish species, as well as giving these molluscs their characteristic colours. For this reason, they are fundamental to coral reefs.
In the Philippines, killing endangered species is punishable by 12 years in prison and fines of more than 17,000 euros. The coast guard announced that it had arrested four suspects on Green Island, in the Sulu Sea.
Just a decade ago, the giant clam was almost extinct in the Philippines, but thanks to conservation efforts its numbers have begun to grow again. However, over the past three years, the illegal trafficking of their shells has increased in Palawan and other areas of the Philippines, driven by increasingly stringent regulations against the trade in elephant tusks.
Giant clam shells, when worked, are indeed very similar to ivory. For this reason they are considered the ivory of the sea and used as an alternative and prized material to make the most varied products, from earrings to candelabras. China remains the most lucrative market to export them to, especially since 2015, when imports of elephant tusks were banned. Over the past six months, Philippine authorities have confiscated more than 150 tonnes of shells in a series of operations along the entire island of Palawan province.
As well as being threatened by the ivory trade, these molluscs are also endangered by illegal fishing, particularly that carried out using cyanide and dynamite. Speaking to Mongabay, Fabello explained that with the onset of the pandemic, traffickers began to employ different strategies. They infiltrated local communities and persuaded fishermen — whose livelihoods had been particularly hard hit by the health emergency — to work for them. Taking advantage of their knowledge of the area, they kept them in the dark about the ecological and legal consequences their actions could cause. Fishermen thus began to bury the shells at pre-arranged locations, to be dug up again at a later stage. It is no coincidence that, during the pandemic, the price of a giant clam shell is said to have doubled to around 35 euros per kilogram.