260 The Philippine Journal of Science laie 



Sec. 6. The fee for this license shall be ten pesos per annum, payable 

 in advance. 



Sec. 7. It shall be unlawful for any vessel holding a pearling-boat 

 license to employ any unlicensed diver. 



Sec. 8. Every licensed vessel shall keep a daily record of the number of 

 shells taken each day. Such record shall be examined and verified by the 

 Collector of Customs or by any internal revenue officer at any port where 

 the owner or master of the vessel may desire to ship, sell, or otherwise 

 dispose of the shells aboard; and no owner or master of any vessel shall 

 discharge shells or otherwise dispose of the shells aboard without inspection 

 by such officer. When the shells have been inspected, the officer shall note 

 the fact in the vessel's log or record book. 



Sec. 9. No person employed on a boat engaged in pearl fishing shall 

 open any shell of the pearl oyster of the species Margaritifera maxima 

 without the permission of the owner or lessee of the boat. 



Sec. 10. When in his opinion the public interest shall so require, the 

 Secretary of the Interior may, by public order, close, either absolutely or 

 qualifiedly, any bed, bank, shell-field, or other breeding place for shellfish 

 in Philippine waters, for any period not exceeding five years. During 

 such closure it shall be unlawful for any person to take therefrom marine 

 MoUusca, or the shells of such, of any prohibited class or to fish for the 

 same therein contrary to the terms of such order. 



Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Interior shall fix minimum sizes for the 

 shells which may be taken in Philippine waters of any or all of the following 

 species, to wit: Margaritifera maxima, commonly known as the gold-lip 

 pear shell or "concha blanca;" Trochus niloticus Linn., commonly known as 

 the "simong" or "trocha;" Turbo 'marvioratus Linn., commonly known as 

 the "bolalo" or "turban shell;" Margaritifera margaritifera Linn., commonly 

 known as the black-lip pearl shell or "concha negra." After such restriction 

 shall have been imposed, it shall be unlawful for any person to take, sell, 

 transfer, or have in possession for any purpose any shell or valve of a 

 smaller size than the minimum prescribed for the particular species; but 

 if any such shell should be removed from the water through accident, or 

 in ignorance of its size, no penalty shall be imposed if it be returned to the 

 water immediately without being opened. 



Sec. 12. It shall be unlawful for any person to ship or export from the 

 Philippine Islands, or to attempt to ship or export therefrom, the shells of 

 any species mentioned in the preceding section, unless exportation is 

 properly eifected through the customhouse at a port of entry. 



Sec. 13. The Secretary of the Interior shall have the power, and it 

 shall be his duty, to impose such restriction upon the number of licenses 

 which may be issued for the taking of marine Mollusca in Philippine waters, 

 or upon the number of licensees who may be allowed to operate therein, as 

 shall comport with the requirements of the public interest. A regulation 

 or order imposing such restriction may extend to one or more species and 

 may be made generally applicable in all Philippine waters or be limited 

 to a particular marine area, or areas, therein. The Secretary of the 

 Interior may also cause any application for license to be refused, or order 

 the cancellation of any license, when in his opinion the public interest so 

 requires. The action of the Secretary of the Interior under this section 

 shall be final. 



Sec. 14. The Secretary of the Interior may issue special permits to 



