The DA said losses from the fish kill as of June 1, were at around 750 to 770 metric tons (MT), a mere 0.015 percent of total production. Damage caused by Typhoon Bebeng was mostly on the crop sector.
The losses in the fish kill in Taal Lake in Batangas reached around 700 MT while losses in Anda and Bolinao in Pangasinan have already reached around 50 to 70 MT.
“The impact of these losses to our total production is only 0.015 percent. Our target fish production is 5.36 MMT. In the affected areas, apart from a decrease in farm-gate prices by almost 50 percent because of the glut.
The supply of fish in Metro Manila will not be affected as large volumes of fish also comes from Region 6 [Western Visayas] and other adjacent areas,” the DA said in a statement.
The DA said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is already implementing interventions to help affected fisherfolk in the affected areas such as shouldering the cost of cold storage for fish stocks.
The BFAR has already issued advisories to fish-cage operators in the affected areas to immediately harvest their fish stock and bring these to the nearest fish ports.
The DA also said the BFAR has also provided fish fry and/or fingerlings to affected small fisherfolk. The BFAR has created a set of criteria in determining those who are qualified for the assistance.
Meanwhile, the DA said the fish kill in Taal Lake was a result of natural and man-made causes including natural causes such as the lack of dissolved oxygen in water due to natural upwelling lakes.
Man-made causes include violations of BFAR’s Code of Practice for Aquaculture and local government ordinances on proper fish-cage management.
“It was found that some fish cages had been overstocked and the depth of the fish cage was increased from the prescribed 5 meters to 15 meters. These wrong practices exacerbated the fish kills,” the DA said.
The fish kill in Anda and Bolinao, Pangasinan, the DA said, was largely due to man-made causes, specifically improper fish-cage management and overcrowding of fish in the cages.
The DA explained that the prescribed density stocking density for closed water systems like lakes should be 20 fish per cubic meter but there are those who violate this prescription.
“For open waters, stocking density could go up to 30 fish per cubic meter or more depending on water circulation among others,” the DA added.
