TALISAYAN, Misamis Oriental--''Give us livelihood or we won't stop hunting the whale sharks.''

Local fishermen aired this plea in the wake of a new law banning the hunting of the gentle sea creatures.

On March 25, the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources issued Fisheries Administrative Order No. 193, series of 1998, banning the harvest of whale sharks and manta rays.

The ban was imposed following reports of the slaughter of whale sharks off the coast of Donsol, Sorsogon, where the biggest known school of the giant fish are found.

On Pamilacan Island in Bohol and in this town, whale shark hunting is a tradition.

Melo Barton recalled that hunting whale sharks here started in the 1950's. He has been hunting the giant fish (known locally as tawiki or toki) for over 40 years.

''Kung did-an kaming mananagat sa pagpanuki kaming tanan magpapriso na lamang. Aduna bay ipakaon ang gobyerno sa among pamilya ug pagpa-eskwela sa among mga anak?'' (If the government will prohibit us from hunting, we would rather go to jail. Can the government give us food and send our children to school?), Barton lamented.

Other fishermen agreed. Leo Lupian said the government must provide them an alternative livelihood, or they would never stop the hunting.

Lupian started hunting at the young age of 10. He assisted his father in slaughtering whale sharks.

Most of the 200 families in Barangays Guiwanon and Nabuod in this town have traditionally made a living on whale shark hunting.

These communities are known as the ''killing fields'' of whale sharks. To this day, fishermen perform a ritual before they go out to sea to hunt the whale sharks.

They live at subsistence levels, earning several thousand pesos a month during the peak hunting season of February and March.

Filmosa Trading & Exports is among the top buyers of whale sharks in Talisayan, Pamilacan and, recently, in Donsol.

A single shark is priced at P14,000 to P20,000, depending on the size and length of the fish.

Monyeen Alava reported that the Binondo-based trading firm has raised the price to P80,000 per shark after the ban took effect.

Two weeks before the ban, BFAR issued a permit to Filmosa to export whale shark products. But the law invalidated the permit.

The company had entered into a contract with a Taiwanese company for the export whale shark. Despite the ban, the contract stays.

In Talisayan alone, about 300 people are working for Filmosa. They include hunters, butchers and porters who carry the boxes of whale shark meat. Women and children, too, are employed.

Filmosa has even provided two boats for the whale shark hunters.

Fishermen from Pamilacan in the employ of Filmosa also hunt in the waters off Misamis Oriental and land their catch in Talisayan.

In the past, whale sharks were hunted for local consumption in Guiwanon and Nabuod. Dried whale shark meat was sold in the local market.

But the recent upsurge in demand for whale shark fins for export has become the driving force behind whale shark hunting throughout the world.

This demand is causing widespread decline in many shark populations, according to Carl Safina of the US-based National Audobon Society.

Whale shark fins end up in posh restaurants not only in Manila, but also in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Taiwan.

Although the fins are most in demand, there is also a market for shark meat which is made into dried fish and fish balls. Shark skin is used for fish lip soup.

In Hong Kong, whale shark fin soup is popular in weddings and is a mark of high social status.

More liberal import policies have also opened a new market for rare delicacies in China.

The brisk trade in whale shark products and the decline of the shark population are alarming local and foreign conservationists.

''These animals have slow reproductive rates, and wiping out the entire population is very easy,'' says Monyeen Alava, a Silliman University marine scientist, who has done research on Pamilacan and Talisayan.

''The law will not be strong enough to give protection to the whale sharks with just a minimal penalty of only P5,000,'' said Cagayan de Oro Tourism Director Dorothy Jean B. Pubuyo.

Pabuyo said ''the rich buyer can afford to pay the small amount, and they're willing to pay that as long as they can continue to export shark fin in return for big money.''

Before the ban was imposed, Misamis Oriental Gov. Ruthie Guingona passed an ordinance stopping whale shark slaughter in the province. Violators could be fined P5,000.

''The one who will be affected most by this situation will be the poor fishermen. Given the high and attractive prices that buyers are offering to them, they will still continue to hunt,'' Pabayo said.

She said the government must do something to stop buyers from exporting the whale sharks. ''If there would be no buying, there would be no hunting,''Pabayo said.

Pabayo recently met with the members of the inter-agency task force of the Mindanao Marine Wildlife Watch to discuss an alternative livelihood program for the fishermen.

The task force was formed two years ago by the Department of Tourism in Region 10.

The DOT plans to introduce an eco-tourism project, or whale shark interaction tours patterned after the Ningaloo Reef in Australia.

Forty-four members (formerly hunters) of the Whale Shark Spotters Association will serve as tour guides and spotters in the project.

Also part of the alternative program are aqua-culture and seaweed culture.

The DOT is seeking financial support for the livelihood program.

Pabayo urged the government and the next administration to implement and develop an alternative livelihood program for the poor fishermen here.

''For the next whole shark season, we are hoping for a zero mortality rate of whale sharks and no single shark will be killed,'' she said.