Lampirong Shells Belong to Fisherfolk but Businessmen are Making a Killing

Hinigaran, a town some 60 kms south of Bacolod City in Negros Occidental, is attracting hordes of seashell divers, pumpboat operators and handicraft exporters. Lampirong shells - the object of their enterprise - will be gone faster than nature is able to produce it, local fisherfolk fear.

By Edgar A. Cadagat
Bulatlat.com / Cobra-Ans

BACOLOD CITY - Seashell divers from all over Negros and Panay have been flocking to Hinigaran town to dive for shells, the leader of a fisherfolk's group told Bulatlat.com during the farmers' regional assembly in Felisa village this weekend. The shells, known locally as "lampirong," have multiplied in the millions in the shallow waters off the coast of Hinigaran.

When divers discovered the seashells, word soon spread fast, and within a week, divers from as far as Capiz and Sagay particularly from Molocaboc Island arrived in droves in Hinigaran, the fisherfolk group's leader said. Hinigaran is 60 kms south of Bacolod and is part of Negros Occidental's oyster belt.

The source from the local chapter of Pamalakaya asked he not be identified as he was criticizing town officials for not taking steps to stop the illegal gathering of the valuable seashells. "Lampirong" shells, he said, belongs to the people.

About 500 pumpboats each with four divers using compressors are wasting no time in scooping up the seashells that are resting atop the sea's muddy waters, he said.

"The four-man team on board the pumpboat can get as much as half a ton of lampirong shells a day," the fisherman said. "Those who work full time can haul as much as a ton of shells every day."

Shells gathered are then unloaded in Tagda village where buyers wait for the harvest to be weighed and pay P8 a kilo.

Shipped to Manila

After removing the meat, the shells are stocked for shipment to Manila where there are buyers who, it has been reported, buy it as much as P50 per kilo. The shells are used for handicrafts and for interior decoration. These are also made into Capiz lamps.

As many as 10 middlemen, one of them the brother of a Tagda village leader, is among the buyers of the shells.

Unfortunately, however, it is not the divers who are making a killing from the gathering of the seashells but those who own the pumpboats and middle men who buy it. And what do the pumpboat operators earn? As much as P17,000 a day, the source said.

Owners of pumpboats shell out P510 in municipal fees to gather seashells in the town.

At the rate the shells are being gathered, Hinigaran's fisherfolk fear that lampirong will be gone after a month. This is because even immature seashells are being gathered by divers. And it will take long time before the next season of shell gathering comes.

Many people are asking the municipal government to suspend the issuance of permits that allow the full exploitation of a bounty coming from the sea. Bulatlat.com

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