I had a cold hard dose of reality when we joined the local fishermen for their daily hauling of their fishing nets. The traditional method is called "Lambaklad", where deep fish traps wait about 100m offshore to collect the unfortunate fish that get caught. On this regular morning, the catch included a few tuna, baracuda, sardines, jackfish, squid, a sea horse, and 5 majestic rays.

We all thought they were manta rays, and I stood helpless as they hauled them in along with their catch, and even butchered one alive to share amongst themselves. The rest are sold in the market for only P40/kg. It was my first time to see rays this big. I didn't imagine it would be this way. As confirmed by experts, these are Mobula rays, a close relative to the elusive Manta ray, that unfortunately, are not protected by Philippine laws due to insufficient data about the species population. That doesn't change the fact that this act should be stopped.