Erico Joseph T. Canete
“SAVE THE WHALE SHARKS”
TOURISM IN BOHOL is now back on its feet after COVID – 19 Pandemic and the wrath of typhoon Odette. According to a reliable source, travel to Bohol for business or leisure is allowed as long as tourists or visitors practice COVID Precautionary Measures such as wearing face masks, frequent hand washing, physical distancing, and getting vaccinated.
Yet, at the onset of its opening, Bohol was hit by an issue of alleged overpriced food served in Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This caused Panglao Mayor Edgardo Arcay to suspend the operations of food establishments in the area and simultaneously followed by Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado’s issuance of a directive to investigate the alleged overpriced food.
Who’s to be blamed? The marginal comprador or the fish cartel profiteers?
Just price or exaggerated capitalism?
Not long after, the issues on alleged exorbitant commission from All Terrain Vehicle operations in Carmen and the 50 % commission of the P100.00 entrance fee in the tarsier watch in Bilar were exposed. This issue was reported during the privilege speech of BM Greg Jala of the 3rd congressional district of Bohol.
Can the blame be imputed to our less fortunate front liners lured by the so called bounty? Is this not a camouflage of profiteering under the shadow of incentive?
Generosity or selfishness?
On top of these recent tourism issues, one environmental problem that haunts our tourism industry is a silent tolerance or, worst, apathy on the issue of provisioning to attract marine wildlife i.e. whale shark.
There’s nothing wrong per se inter acting with these gentle giants as long as it is in consonance with the order of reason set forth and approved by our provincial legislators and implemented by the executive department.
Years back, in my research about whale shark inter action reflected in my Bohol Tribune column, I wrote;
“Whale sharks are migratory species and normally follow the path of nutrient-rich seasonal aggregations of plankton including copepods, krill, fish eggs and crab larvae. They also eat small fish and squid. They rarely reside in one area more than 30 days, a characteristic of a sea gypsy.
Now, if you bring these whale sharks outside of their migratory route like bringing them to the shore area baited and fed them with dead krill everyday to make them stay in the feeding area, this would affect their diet for instead of eating nutritious blooms of planktons, they would be eating less natural food that is not complete for their nutritional needs. Eventually, this would affect their lifestyle.
Feeding these creatures is teaching them that boats and humans mean food. This behavioral modification might also have inherent effect as they travel outside of protected waters and wrongly approach fishing boats and would consequently hit by propellers.
Consider too the issue of sanitation of our seawaters or shoreline due to unconsumed dead krill that would pollute the area. It brings adverse effects to other marine resources.
How about the marginal fishermen whose livelihood is dislodged due to this lucrative business? What about the consumers affected by the scarcity of anchovies because the whale sharks in the feeding area are consuming them? Is the business of whale shark interaction compensatory with the benefit of their fishing livelihood and consumers’ welfare?”
Whale shark (Butanding or Balilan) is a slow moving shark and the largest known fish specie. They are considered as endangered species. Piyaporn Wongruang of the Sunday Nation special report dated May 27, 2018 claimed that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Assessment attributed the growing human pressures as the contributing threats putting whale sharks at an increasing risk of extension. Does this include whale shark interaction? It does!
In response to the challenge of preservation, the LGU of Baclayon in 2018 approved an ordinance, authored by this representation, Ordinance NO. 01 -2018, AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING REGULATIONS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF WHALE SHARKS WITHIN THE MUNICIPAL WATERS OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BACLAYON. Section 4, Article 3 of this ordinance bans “provisioning or the use of any methods designed to attract marine wildlife including whale sharks, using food (artificial or natural), including, but not limited to, luring, baiting, chumming and feeding.”
This ordinance is in consonance with provincial Ordinance No. 2020 – 008 otherwise known as “Sustainable Marine Wildlife Inter Action Ordinance of the Province of Bohol.”
The necessity for a consolidated resolution by the business sector, the government and the community at large is essential to address the mechanics of economics in tourism and most importantly, to maintain responsible stewardship of our resources otherwise Bohol’s tourism industry would be destroyed by forces within.
We are for tourism and development as long as it does not exploit our eco cultural treasures and heritage. Let’s entrust our voice to our newly elected officials to conscientiously weigh things in making a decision in line with Bohol’s vision as a prime eco-cultural tourist destination and an agro-industrial province in the Visayas.
Finally, leaving you the words of Pope Francis’ in his encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si”, “Where profits alone count, there can be no thinking about the rhythms of nature, its phases of decay and regeneration or the complexity of ecosystems which may be gravely upset by human intervention”.