BFAR introduces device to end fish kill woes

BITSTOP’S INVENTION

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) center in Dagupan City believes it has found the solution to end all fish kills in Pangasinan.

Dr. Westly Rosario said Bitstop Networking Services led by Wilson Chua based in this city, has developed a a cost-effective solution five years ago that not only monitors dissolved oxygen levels in the water but also automatically triggers operation of aerators that will increase dissolved oxygen in the water, and prevent fish kills in the process.

Chua had volunteered to invent an IT (information technology) device that could help the fisheries industry but Rosario instead asked him to produce a device that would address fish kills.

Bitstop Networking Services then proceeded with experiments as tasked.

 “I called it then as Aquaculture IMASO (Internet Monitoring Automatic Switch On and Off) Aeration Device,” Rosario said.

The device’s readings can be recorded by the service provider up to two years to enable scientists to support their studies and experiments.

“To us aqua-culturists, this is a big help because we would no longer have to dip our instruments from time to time since the Bitstop device will be positioned in an area, like in river or fishpond, where bangus is raised and quality of water can be measured anytime,” he said.

He said the data in IMASO can be accessed in Android phones and if the situation reaches critical level, the device would automatically run the aerator in the fish cage/fish pond.

Rosario presented the idea in a ManCom (Management Conference) of BFAR five years ago but there were “Doubting Thomases” who said BFAR had no budget for it.

And when he persisted and installed the device in BFAR’s fishponds and proved the experiments to be successful, still the board was not receptive to the program.

“God gave us a tool to forewarn us against fish death to avoid heavy loss of more than a hundred million pesos from fish kills every year. The former BFAR leaders ignored it,” Rosario wrote and posted in his Facebook page on June 14, 2018 following the recent fish kills in Anda and Bolinao towns in Pangasinan with more than P110-million estimated losses. (Eva Visperas)

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