Zambales townsfolk protest fishcages in marine reserve

MASINLOC, Zambales — Local residents have finally united to protest the mushrooming of fishcages in the Oyon Bay declared by former President Fidel Ramos as a marine reservation.

Fishcages now cover 12,400 square meters of the bay. But residents learned that more structures will be built.

Leaders of the Atoc Marketing Cooperative (AMC) said multisectoral groups in this town are joining hands in a protest motorcade and march tomorrow to demand the dismantling of the existing fishcages built since 1997, despite Proclamation No. 281, which Ramos issued in 1993, declaring coastal areas and islands within Masinloc and Oyon Bay as a marine reservation.

The fishcages, the AMC said, are owned by only 10 people, none of whom are residents of this town.

They cited records indicating that permits for the construction of the fishcages were allegedly issued by former mayor Roberto Enilao and the incumbent mayor, Jessu Edora.

Municipal officials, they claimed, have again approved the construction of fishcages covering an additional 90,000 square meters of the bay.

The townsfolk expressed fears that the cages would result in massive pollution and fishkills which have occurred in Bolinao.

"The fishcages are environmentally damaging in shallow bays with sluggish tides," the AMC said in a statement sent to The STAR.

"Oyon Bay is not suitable for fishcages since most parts of the bay are extremely shallow and have a sluggish tidal movement. Artificial feeds for the fish in the cages are needed because of lack of natural food, thus causing algae bloom, oxygen deprivation and pollution by fish waste," the AMC added.

Big-time businessmen, the group claimed, reportedly lobbied with the municipal council for the construction of more fishcages after they reportedly got the signatures of local fisherfolk supporting their projects.

The mayor’s permits were allegedly granted based on the endorsement of the municipal council.

The AMC, however, said only the Department of Environment and Natural Resources could grant such permits since Ramos’ Proclamation No. 281 had already declared the Oyon Bay a marine reservation.

Such a declaration, the AMC said, was meant "to protect and conserve the ecological, scenic, scientific and educational features of the area" and to promote "sustainable development... to address the social and economic needs of local communities without causing adverse impact on the environment."

Thus, the fishcages in Oyon Bay, it added, are "illegal and should be dismantled," noting that pollution has already taken its toll on local fishermen whose catch has been scant since the fishcages were built."

Tomorrow’s motorcade-march is also in commemoration of World Fish Conservation Day. — Ding Cervantes