The baby eels were about to be transported to Taiwan via a China Airlines flight. (Photo: Stock File/FIS)

Shipment with USD 1.26mln worth of banned elvers intercepted

PHILIPPINES
Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 03:20 (GMT + 9)

Customs authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) stopped 256 kg of banned eel fry worth about USD 1.26 million from being flown to Taiwan.

The cargo, consisting of 13 boxes of banned elvers labelled "live tropical fish" and destined for Kaohsiung, Taiwan, was intercepted at the export division of the Pair Cargo warehouse by Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) personnel this weekend. The shipments were about to be loaded onto China Airlines flight CI 712. 

When examiners checked the boxes, Customs officers found baby eels in plastic bags filled with water rather than shipments of "live tropical fish," said Pair Cargo Customs Collector Rey Gatchalian.

Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said the agency has not yet determined the consignee of the illegal elvers, ABS-CBNnews.com reports.

The street value of the elvers in the Philippines hovers around PHP 22,000 (USD 530.18) per kg, but in the international market, elvers cost over USD 2,000 per lb or USD 4,400 per kg, according to BFAR personnel, InterAksyon.com reports.

Demand for elvers has been rising worldwide. The trend is that the fingerlings are shipped to China to be raised before they are shipped to the West to be sold in seafood markets.

Biazon said that the importation of elvers violates Republic Act 8550 under the Fisheries Administrative Order 242 Series of 2012, which reinstated the ban on the export of elvers. Biazon and BFAR Director Asis Perez together witnessed the confiscation of the elvers at the Pair Cargo warehouse.

Biazon added that the offense carries a penalty of imprisonment of up to eight years or a fine equivalent to double the export value of the shipment.

The seized fingerlings will be transported to the BFAR hatchery in Tanay, Rizal for custodial care.

Last May, the Philippines banned the export of young eels after studies showed their numbers were slowly plummeting.

Related article:

- BFAR tightens seafood export regulations

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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