Excessive waste blamed for Las Piñas, Parañaque fish kill

MANILA, Philippines — The fish kill in the coastal areas of Las Piñas and Parañaque City was caused by poor levels of dissolved oxygen due to excessive waste, government tests bared.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, conducted an assessment after dead fish were found floating in the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat Ecotourism Area.

“The water quality test conducted in three sampling areas by BFAR shows poor levels of dissolved oxygen and higher levels of ammonia and phosphates than the standard level,” the agency said.

Dissolved oxygen should be greater than five parts per million (ppm) but tests showed it was only 0.70 to two ppm. There was also high level of ammonia at 3.59 ppm when it was supposed to be less than 0.05 ppm.

BFAR said the ammonia in the water samples, however, might have also come from agricultural, domestic and industrial wastes. It was also the same case with phosphate at 8.28 ppm when the standard should have been just 0.5 ppm.