MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Loren Legarda Sunday expressed concern that the absence of a law banning the catching of sharks in the Philippines for their fins could lead to the extinction of the shark species.

Legarda said she disapproves the practice of shark finning in which catchers remove the fin and throw the animal back to the sea, condemning them to their deaths. Those in the business of shark finning, she said, know-how lucrative sharks fin are especially in restaurants.

She said Congress should pass Senate Bill 2616 or An Act Banning the Catching, Sale, Purchase, Possession, Transportation, Importation and Exportation of All Sharks and Rays or Any Part Thereof in the Country.

Under the bill, Shark’s Fin Soup and the selling of shark’s fin will also be prohibited.

“Sharks, as predators of the sea, play a vital role in regulating the ecological balance, particularly the health of important commercial fish species, population balance, and protection of coral reefs,” Legarda said.

Citing the statement of shark conservation group called Shark Savers, Legarda noted that the shark population is declining by as much as 90 percent because up to 100 million sharks are killed every year.

“Clearly, the absence of the law forbidding the catching of sharks, gives people the courage to continue the practice, which could eventually lead to the extinction of shark species in the country, especially that they reproduce slowly,” Legarda said.

“Being a country with about two-thirds of the known marine species of the Pacific living in its coastal waters, the Philippines plays a crucial role in protecting marine species,” she stressed.