BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A shipment of dried seahorse bound for Iloilo was intercepted yesterday by Philippine Coast Guard personnel at the Banago Port in Bacolod City.
Capt. Ludovico Librilla Jr, Coast Guard – Negros Occidental chief, said the shipment, with an estimated market value of P460,000, was placed in a package aboard the M/V FastCat M3.
Under the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, transporting, taking and selling of rare, threatened and endangered fishery products are prohibited, with violators facing a fine of P300,000 to P5 million, or three to five years of imprisonment, if found guilty.
Based on their initial investigations, Librilla said that the package was brought by an unidentified person, who paid for its shipment to Iloilo.
The confiscated dried sea horse, weighing 15.25 kilos, was turned over to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Librilla said.
The authorities are still trying to identify the sender of the package and its origin.*
