Cebu launches crackdown on illegal seashell trade

In Cebu – home to one of the most diverse concentrations of seashells in the world – local authorities have seized truckloads of endangered seashells that were meant to be sold and shipped abroad over the last two months.

In the latest in a series of raids on illegal seashell traders, local authorities seized around P2 million worth of endangered seashells and other species from the residential compound of 59-year-old Kalali Daigal Sabteri last April 27.

The confiscated items include nine sacks of Tridacna shells, three boxes of murex shells, three sacks of sponges, a box of sea corals, and four baby sharks, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) provincial chief Ricky Neron told GMA News Online in a telephone interview.

All species of Tridacna or giant clams are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Philippines is a signatory to the treaty. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has classified at least one murex species under the “lower risk" and “near threatened" category.