Fishkill damage in Batangas, Pangasinan reaches P190 million

MANILA, Philippines - The government has placed at P190 million the total value of fish lost in fishkill in Batangas and Pangasinan.

Executive director Benito Ramos of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Batangas sustained P150 million in losses, and Pangasinan P40.71 million.

The latest fishkill decimated P7.5-million worth of fish in 24 cages in Barangay Lumanglipa in Mataas na Kahoy town in Batangas, he added.

Other affected areas in Batangas are Barangay Sampaloc in Talisay, Barangay Leviste in Laurel, Barangay Poblacion in San Nicolas, Barangay Subic Ilaya in Agoncillo, and the towns of Sta. Teresita, Cuenca and Alitagtag.

In Pangasinan, Anda town posted a loss of P25.11 million, while the amount of losses in Bolinao reached P15.6 million.

The fishkill hit a total of 108 cages in six barangays.

Alex Uy, Ilocos Region civil defense director, said Anda was placed under a state of calamity yesterday.

The Batangas provincial disaster risk reduction and management council has also declared a state of calamity in the towns of Talisay, Laurel, San Nicolas, Agoncillo, Sta. Teresita, Cuenca and Alitagtag.

Disaster management officials have deployed a backhoe, payloader and two dump trucks to Batangas City to help in excavations to bury the dead fish.

Police have set up checkpoints to inspect fish being transported from fishkill areas to prevent them from reaching the market.

Disaster management officials in Talisay distributed masks to residents to prevent the spread of diseases.

20 tons of fish lost in new fishkill

At least 20 metric tons of fish were lost when a new fishkill hit two towns and a city in Batangas on Saturday.

Vicente Tomazar, Office of Civil Defense director in Calabarzon, said the affected areas are the towns of Mataas na Kahoy and Cuenca, as well as Lipa City, about five kilometers southeast of the Talisay side of Taal lake.

More than 1,098 metric tons of fish with an estimated cost of P1.42 million have been lost since early last week, he added.

Tomazar said 10 metric tons of tilapia were lost in Barangay Tagbakin in Lipa City.

In Mataas na Kahoy, the fishkill took 10 metric tons of bangus and tilapia, he added.

Tomazar told The STAR tons of fish were lost in barangays Kalamayin and San Juan in Cuenca town.

However, two fish cages with bangus and tilapia in Cuenca were not affected, he added.

Tomazar said the fishkill affected seven out of 30 fish cages in Mataas na Kahoy.

Fish killed in Cuenca included biya, pauto, apta, katang, siliw and muang, he added.

Tomazar said the dead fish from the three towns have been buried.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is inspecting the affected area to determine the cause of the fishkill, Tomazar said.

Bangus raisers  to shift to oysters

Bangus raisers in fishkill affected Anda and Bolinao towns in Pangasinan province were advised yesterday to shift to oyster and mussel culture for livelihood and food.

Dr. Westly Rosario, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute executive director, told The STAR oysters and mussels have a potential export market.

Oysters and mussels can filter water of excessive microscopic plants, he added.

Rosario said growing oyster and mussel culture does not require high inputs.

“This does not require much inputs in farming, aside from labor only, it cleanses the environment and it gives new livelihood and industry to small fisherfolk,” he said.

“We would teach them technology and site selection.”

Rosario said dried mussels can be exported, while oysters can be processed to oyster paste and oyster sauce, also for export.

“If there is even a little consideration to ecological balance to the aquaculture, fishkill can be avoided,” he said.

His idea is illustrated in the integrated multi-tropic aquaculture concept, an integration of different aquaculture organisms with different feeding behaviors, Rosario said. – With Ed Amoroso, Eva Visperas