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A rare protected shark was slaughtered and eaten by villagers in Cagayan de Oro City, a government official revealed today.
The megamouth shark (megachasma pelagios) was unintentionally caught by fishermen off Macajalar Bay on Friday, reported BusinessMirror. It was estimated to weigh around 400 kilograms and measure 3.048 meters long and a meter wide.
According to Cheryl Magante, an officer of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the shark was wounded but alive when it was caught by fishermen living in the village of Cugman, reported The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
But by the time BFAR officials arrived in Cugman, the villagers had already killed the shark and distributed its meat amongst themselves to eat. The BFAR officials only managed to recover half of the shark’s body and its tail, which they then buried in the nearby village of Kauswagan.
Magante said that as a rare animal, the megamouth shark is protected by Republic Act No. 8550, or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, which prohibits the killing and fishing of rare marine creatures.
A fisherman named Frey Mambayas admitted to killing the shark in last night’s episode of the GMA News show State of the Nation with Jessica Soho and said that they had to do it because the marine creature was uncontrollable.
“It went wild. It was running out of breath. We killed it because it was going to sink our boat and we will end up dead,” the fisherman said in Filipino.
The BFAR is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shark’s death.
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