大型二枚貝８０トン押収、３．６億円相当　フィリピン

【マニラＡＦＰ＝時事】フィリピンで、密漁された大型二枚貝計80トン、約3億6000万円相当が押収された。当局が5日、発表した。（写真はフィリピン・パラワン州で見つかった大型二枚貝。同国沿岸警備隊提供）
　フィリピンの海では、世界の熱帯性の大型二枚貝の大半の種が見つかる。同国最大規模の摘発作戦は３日、西部パラワン諸島の村で行われた。
　海兵隊や沿岸警備隊、地元自然保護当局がジョンソン島の複数の民家を捜索し、砂の中から貝殻３００個以上を掘り出した。闇市場で、計約３億６０００万円の値がつく。
　中には、１．４メートルまで成長する世界最大の二枚貝、オオシャコガイ（学名：Ｔｒｉｄａｃｎａ　ｇｉｇａｓ）も含まれていた。国際自然保護連合（ＩＵＣＮ）はこの貝を「危急種」に指定している。
　パラワン諸島の自然保護委員会は、違法採取を取り仕切っていた密漁の罪で、村長が訴追されるとしている。
　自然保護活動家らによると、大型二枚貝の殻は、世界で違法取引の取り締まりが強化されている象牙の代替として用いられ、イヤリングからシャンデリアまでさまざまな商品に加工される。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/03/09-14:52）

Philippine authorities have seized illegally harvested giant clam shells worth $3.3 million as smugglers turn to the endangered creatures as a substitute for the illicit ivory trade.
In one of the biggest operations of its kind in the country, 80 tonnes of the tropical species were discovered in a village on a remote island in the western archipelago of Palawan, officials said Friday.
The Philippines is home to most of the world's giant tropical clam species, which are considered threatened in the country as poaching surges.
Conservationists say their shells are used as an alternative material for products ranging from earrings to chandeliers as ivory becomes scarce amid a global crackdown on the illegal trade in elephant tusks.
Marine troops, the coastguard and local conservation officials raided local homes on Johnson Island on Wednesday, unearthing more than 300 clam shells with a value of around $3.3 million on the black market.
Among them was the Tridacna gigas, the world's largest clam, which can grow a shell up to 1.4 metres (4.6 feet) long.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers Tridacna gigas a vulnerable species.
The island's village chief will be charged with poaching for supervising the illegal collection, said Jovic Fabello, spokesman for the Palawan government's conservation council.
This has been our biggest haul so far, he said.
It likely took the locals between six months and a year to amass the 80-tonne pile, a coastguard spokeswoman told AFP.
Palawan is considered the last frontier of the Philippines' rich biodiversity, but is also a hotspot for the illegal wildlife trade, with pangolins, marine turtles and wild birds poached and sold illicitly.
The country's fisheries code bans the collection of giant clams that are considered endangered, with prison terms for offenders of up to eight years and fines of up to three million pesos ($61,000).
Giant clams are important ecological components of coral reefs, which are nurseries for many fish species consumed by humans.