Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor and lawyer Reuben Ganaden, BFAR’s assistant director for technical services, both admitted to The STAR yesterday that their agencies have not received any reports on the illegal activity.
Both officials, however, promised to immediately conduct an investigation into the matter.
Earlier, the World Wide Fund-Philippines (WWF) revealed that manta ray fishing still continues in Bohol in spite of a government ban since 1998.
Lory Tan, WWF-Philippines president, disclosed that the sale of manta rays, whose meat is called sannga in Bohol, was quite open.
"I don’t know about that but I think (the people behind it) should be arrested," Ganaden said.
He said he and Montemayor visited Pamilacan in Bohol last month and that they saw no manta rays being sold.
Montemayor, however, said the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) has not included mantas among the endangered species of the sea.
Thus, he said mantas were previously excluded in the Fisheries Administrative Order 193 which the agriculture department issued in 1998.
The WWF, however, said former Agriculture Secretary Salvador Escudero, through FAO 193, banned the killing and sale of manta rays and whale sharks in 1998.
Specifically, FAO 193 bans the catching, selling, purchasing and possession, transport and export of whale sharks and manta rays.
"The FAO bans only the catching of whale shark or butanding because it was identified by the CITES as among the endangered species. It was only later that manta rays were said to be included in the order," Montemayor said.
"The problem is that while there’s a ban, it is a livelihood issue for the people of Pamilacan... The implementation (of the ban) is difficult," he said.
He said the supposed illegal catching of manta rays could merely be a part of a study the BFAR is presently conducting on the stock assessment of manta rays.
"Even when there is a ban, there is, however, an agreement to accredit several fishermen to continue fishing under controlled conditions and be involved in the research," he said.
Tan said about 10 to 15 manta rays are being caught daily in the coastal villages of Bungga Mar and Pamilacan.