Seashells: A source of livelihood for coastal dwellers

Seashells are one of the most abundant and diverse among nature’s myriad marine resources. They have been valued by man as religious symbols, artifacts and decorative or ornamental objects.

Shells are external skeletons of molluscs. They provide support and protection for the soft-bodied molluscs.

The natural beauty of seashells attracts more people, particularly those whose hobby is shell collection. Shells provide a source of livelihood for coastal dwellers.

But while shellcraft provides economic benefits, it also poses ecological hazards. Gathering of dead shells through digging, particularly in sea grass areas, destroys the coastal area’s natural processes. Also, the chemicals used in shellcraft production and which are thrown into the sea could pollute the coastal water, thus harming marine life including molluscs themselves.

It is for this reason that the government has instituted a number of measures to protect the habitat of seashells and continue to thrive and provide food and other benefits to man.

Among such measures are: Republic Act (RA) 6969 abd Presidential Decree 704 which both regulate the use of toxic chemicals and hazardous substances; RA 7586, otherwise known as National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Law of 1992 which limits seashell garthering with the buffer zone of protected areas; RA 7160 of the Local Government Code which empowers local government units to oversee the protection of areas not covered by NIPAS; and Ministry of Natural Resources Administrative Order 12 Series of 1979 which prohibits the taking, selling or transporting of specific types of molluscs.

Unless shellcraft producers observe and follow strictly the tenets of sustainable development, they might soon run out of shells to process.