EDITORIAL - How sustainable?

Earlier in February, whale shark-watching activities were ordered suspended in three towns in Bohol Province after authorities found violations of marine life tourism regulations.

According to an inter-agency team, those conducting the tours in the towns of Lila, Alburquerque, and Dauis towns lured the whale sharks in with krill, a small shrimp-like animal, in direct violation of the Provincial Ordinance No. 2020-008 and Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of 2020.

They also said many operators didn’t have the necessary permits to operate those tours from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

As far as we know, those running the operations in Oslob Town, Cebu Province, also use krill, known locally as “oyap”, to lure in whale sharks. In the past this has led to issues like buying out all the krill available in local markets in Oslob and even neighboring towns. Some said they have even gone to the markets in nearby provinces to source krill if they weren’t available in Cebu.

Then there were also complaints that the krill not eaten by the whale sharks just wash up on the surrounding beaches, causing a horrible smell.

These issues, if they still persist, should be addressed, because the authorities in Bohol seem to have realized that their use of krill wasn’t exactly legal. But even if we don’t seem to have a similar provincial ordinance here in Cebu we still have to ask, how sustainable is the use of krill too attract whale sharks here?

Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t advocating to end whale shark-watching activities in Cebu. It’s one of the unique activities that draw both local and foreign tourists in. It’s one of those things that put us on the worldwide map.

But in the long run we have to question how sustainable it really is. We certainly don’t want it ending up like those attractions that have become unsustainable and disappeared entirely.