Generals own big Laguna fish pens

MANILA, Philippines - Active and retired generals as well as politicians are among the biggest operators of giant fish pens in Laguna de Bay, hence the difficulty authorities face in having the structures dismantled, a senior lawmaker said yesterday.

“It’s an open secret among officials of municipalities and provinces around Laguna lake that powerful and influential people own these giant fish pens that run into hectares. How can we confront these people who have been greedy at the expense of the environment and the economy? Through political will,” Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, chairman of the House committee on ecology, told The STAR.

Fernandez, together with Ang Kasangga sa Kaunlaran party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco, is calling for the dismantling of fish pens in Laguna Lake and other bodies of water that are in danger of ecological collapse.

Fernandez declined to identify the influential fish pen owners, although names may crop up in next week’s House inquiry into the fishkill in the lake that resulted in losses of nearly P200 million.

“They (giant fish pen owners) have been too greedy and they have been powerful enough to resist efforts by the national government, even in the past administrations, to have them dismantled,” he said.

Fernandez said small fisherfolk are forced to go farther out in the lake because heavily armed men don’t want them near the fish pens. He said there had already been cases of violence perpetrated by fish pen guards.

“These giant fish pen owners, out of greed, do overfeeding that is causing the creation of bad sludge,” he said.

Big operators, he said, dump large amount of feeds and chemicals into their fish pens to artificially boost the growth of fingerlings.

Small fishermen, on the other hand, use only organic materials for feeds, and their fish pens are significantly smaller, he added.

Fernandez said small fish pens are usually only a few meters in size, while those owned by big operators stretch up to several hectares.

He said garbage dumping and illegal logging are also among the causes of massive fishkills.

Fernandez also appealed to President Aquino to reconsider his plan to scrap a Belgian rehabilitation project for the lake. He said that under the project, the dredging equipment used would be donated and would certainly be useful in the future.

Meanwhile, Haresco said Laguna Lake “is no longer a lake but a huge commercial fish pen.”

“Let’s help Laguna Lake recover to its natural state. It is not owned by a few, but by all Filipinos,” said Haresco, vice chairman of the House committee on small business and entrepreneurship development.

“There could be some fish pens there that could be models of sustainable development but for the immediate situation, I think the authorities should stop the degradation of the lake. We will have fishkills occurring more frequently until the lake can no longer be revived,” he said.

Laguna Lake safe

As concerns over the possibility or more fishkills linger, the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) assured the public yesterday of its daily monitoring of water quality in the lake to detect early signs and possibly stave off fishkills.

“As of our latest test, the dissolved oxygen is currently at 5.7 to 6 milligrams per liter. This has passed the criteria for fresh water bodies, which need at least five milligrams per liter for fish to survive,” Rodrigo Cabrera, LLDA general manager, told reporters in a news forum.

Cabrera said the fishkills in Batangas and Pangasinan were caused by a sudden change of weather condition from hot to rainy season. When it rains, the surface water temperature goes down but warm water beneath the surface rises.

Such a phenomenon “heats the fish pens, thereby minimizing oxygen supply and leaving thousands of fish dead,” he said.

Since Laguna Lake is shallower than Taal Lake, it is easier for oxygen in the air above its surface to penetrate to the bottom of the lake. Taal Lake is about 100 meters deep, while Laguna Lake is only about 2.5 meters deep.

Cabrera said “river flushing” caused previous fishkills in the lake, or when pollutants and wastewater from rivers flowed into the lake during heavy rains.

Compounding the problem, he said, was the presence of some 3,000 informal settlers around the lake. The squatters regularly dump their waste into the lake.

There are also 30,000 fishermen living around the 90,000-hectare lake. He said part of the rehabilitation plan for the lake may include relocating the informal settlers.

“Laguna Lake is among the best water in the country, so we are trying to restore the quality so that it can be a major source of water for Metro Manila,” Cabrera said.

Moratorium

Meanwhile, Anda, Pangasinan Mayor Aldrin Cerdan ordered Friday a moratorium on putting new bangus (milkfish) stocks in fish pens and fish cages in the town, even as he placed losses from the recent fishkill at P150 million.

Cerdan told The STAR that his moratorium order would possibly be good for a month.

He said he has also asked fish pen and fish cage operators to re-arrange their structures in such a way that water current is not impeded.

Cerdan said the townsfolk embarked on a massive clean-up of the fishkill, particularly in Barangay Awag where dead bangus had turned up due to the water current.

He lamented that despite the municipal council’s declaring Anda under a state of calamity, the municipality’s fisherfolk have not received official aid yet.

Nestor Domenden, regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), meanwhile belittled Cerdan’s order.

“It will do nothing,” he said, referring to Cerdan’s moratorium order. He said he has been pushing for a total ban on fish pens.

“It must be a total no fish pen/fish cage policy that must be implemented now because we have long recommended this,” Domenden said.

The BFAR has been pushing for a ban on fish pens since 2002 following a massive fishkill in Bolinao and Anda. The 2002 fish kill resulted in P400-million losses to the bangus industry.

“That would put an end once and for all to this recurring problem on fishkill,” he said, referring to a total ban.

He said BFAR had issued funds to Anda, Bolinao and Bani towns Alaminos City for the demolition of fish pens as agreed upon with their mayors. But he said there are no signs that they are being dismantled.

He said that every time he would check on their status, officials would assure him that the operators would dismantle the structures as soon as they finish harvesting their current stocks.

“But it was always like that,” he said.

But with the recent fishkill drawing the attention of President Aquino, “then maybe something concrete would be done to end this problem,” he said.

He added that some fish pen operators should be held liable for letting carcasses of fish drift out of their fish pens to open sea.

“Are they not wondering why, when these fish were alive, they were kept intact in the fish pens and fish cages? But when the fish died, we see them floating everywhere. So who ordered their release?” he asked.

“This is an insult to the mayors concerned,” he said. “These capitalists do not respect government policies. They have no self-regulation.” - With Eva Visperas, Perseus Echeminada