Golden bangus dies due to stress, low oxygen

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – The golden bangus (milkfish) here which had attracted many curious onlookers is dead presumably due to stress and low dissolved oxygen. 

Dr. Westly Rosario, center chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and director of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center here, said that up to now he is still “in denial stage,” as he could hardly accept the fact that the golden bangus has died. 

According to the caretaker, said he found the golden bangus already “belly up.”

“For one week, I was very quiet,” Rosario said, adding that he came to know about the bad news after their flag-raising ceremony last June 25. 

The golden bangus died on June 24 yet but Rosario admitted he kept the news to himself because he, too, felt terribly bad about it. It was only the other day that Rosario talked about its death. 

He said scientifically, the bangus died due to low dissolved oxygen because at that time, other species in the BFAR center also died. 

He said they had a problem with water quality, adding that there was lack of water supply from the sea because the continuous pumping of seawater was overloaded with silt. 

Rosario said the seawater intake could have been impeded by the buildup of sand due to erosion. 

“So it limits our capacity to pump water into our hatcheries,” he said.

The same situation happened to the short-finned pampano they had imported from China for breeding.

Rosario said the water supplied to the pampano was the same water that went to the pond where the golden bangus was placed. 

He said initially, they were ecstatic about the success of their pampano breeding for 31 days but this turned out to be short-lived because the fish species eventually died. 

Rosario said the golden bangus was earlier observed to be a “loner,” isolating itself from other species in a 300-square meter pond where it was placed, although it eventually adjusted well and became agile again. 

He said the golden bangus could have experienced stress as a steady stream of visitors took pictures of it.

The golden bangus, about more than a year old, was initially raised in a fishpond in Barangay Linoc, Binmaley, Pangasinan by fishfarmer Ariel Fernandez who donated it to the BFAR here last summer. 

It was 50 centimeters long and weighed 1.2 kilos when it was brought to the BFAR center. More than 50 percent of its body was golden while its belly was silver.

Proud of having it in its center, BFAR had a giant tarpaulin in its main entrance with a photo of the fish with the words “Welcome to the Home of the Golden Bangus.”

Rosario said it could have taken four to five years for the fish to reach sexual maturity and could be used for experiment.