Too many fishpens choking coastal ecosystems

Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (First of a series)

BOLINAO, Pangasinan – The scene that greeted the residents of this northern Luzon seaside town one morning last February seemed straight out of the pages of the Bible’s Old Testament. Overnight, the coastal waters had turned red and murky, resembling a vast pool of contaminated blood. In the next couple of days, the sea breeze would reek of nothing but the stench of decomposing fish as the tide swept them back to shore.

Another fish kill, smaller in scale, but still devastating for the town residents, would hit Bolinao two months later. This May, it was the turn of Dagupan City, Lingayen and Binmaley to suffer the "curse" of the dead fish.

The spreading curse, however, does not have biblical or divine origins. Indeed, the massive fish kills some coastal Pangasinan towns have been witnessing can be traced back to the irresponsible and unregulated practices in bangus (milkfish) culture that have been pursued relentlessly in the Lingayen Gulf since 1995.

What has often characterized the bulk of such activities are overcrowded fish pens and cages concentrated in the coastal and inland waters of Bolinao, Dagupan and Binmaley in Pangasinan, and in Aringay in La Union. Marine scientists and environmentalists now say that other water cluttered with fish pens and cages, such as those in Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Oriental and Cebu in the Visayas, could well expect similar fish kills if they do not act soon.

The scientists and environmentalists add that such fish kills only further threaten the viability of fisheries in the Philippines, and especially so in the aquaculture sector that is seen to provide an alternative means to meet the protein demands of Filipinos. The tons of dead fish are also signs of deteriorating ecosystems in general and water quality conditions in particular. Yet even the government remains adamant in emphasizing aquaculture, or the growing of fish in fresh, brackish and marine areas using ponds, pens and cages, to the detriment of other fisheries sectors.

Less oxygen, more algae

What is happening, say experts, is that the proliferation of fish pens and cages has led to depleted oxygen concentration and the rise in harmful algal bloom in the host waters.

"Sure, the argument is that we had this thing (fish kill) in Bolinao and other places before," says Dr. Gil Jacinto, director of the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines (UPMSI). "Yes, there’s a natural process but what we’ve done is really affect the system, perturbed it too much."

Jacinto and other experts explain that the congestion of fish pens and cages — which is almost always way beyond the water’s carrying capacity — has come with a host of attendant problems, including overstocking, excessive feeding and pollution. All these contribute to the high load of nutrients.

"If there is an excessive load, the feeds that don’t get broken down or re-mobilized continue to be broken down by the microorganisms, the phytoplanktons and zooplanktons," says Jacinto.

"And when they do that, they consume oxygen. So they cause the depletion of the oxygen level in the sediment-water column surface."

The experts say they had not been remiss in warning people, Bolinao residents included, of the dangers of having too many fish pens and cages. But few heeded their warnings, most probably because the fish pen owners were powerful individuals who were too busy reeling in the huge profits brought by their operations.

"(We) can only provide our advice," says Dr. Porfirio Aliño of the UPMSI, when asked if they had told Bolinao residents what could happen.

Aquaculture through semi-intensive milkfish fishponds started in the Lingayen Gulf in the early 1970s, then peaked in the 1980s with the rampant conversion of mangrove areas into fishponds. With the ban in mangrove cutting enforced in 1995, bangus culture eventually expanded into the coastal waters and rivers.

Prior to the massive February fish kill, there were around 1,170 units of fish pens and cages in Bolinao alone. This was more than double the allowable limit of 544 units, which is the carrying capacity of the channel as determined by its own municipal fisheries ordinance.

Human error

Bolinao is unique among local government units within the Lingayen Gulf as the only municipality to have passed a fisheries ordinance and adopted a coastal development plan anchored on resource management. But even that did not seem to have provided enough guarantees for the regulation of fish pens there.

"We could say that there is still a human error in the enforcement of their law, and this is acknowledged by the local chief executive," says Nestor Domenden, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region I.

Domenden allows that such lapses can only be expected to trailblazing endeavors. "It’s the first municipality in the country to pursue the commercial application of the technology. And I think it’s just normal for the pioneer to at least experience the best and the worst before they can come up with the most ideal situation."

(To be continued)