FIRST District Rep. Jesus Celeste advised owners and operators of fish pens and cages to finally strictly comply with rules set by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to protect and preserve the quality of seawater in Bolinao and Anda or suffer from more fish kill in the future.

Bolinao and Anda recently suffered from another massive fish kill last week.

He said the greed again of the operators to maximize production of bangus every time was the cause of the fish kill.

He said the BFAR experts had already warned the operators in the past about overstocking their structures but they didn’t listen.

“We should have had the moratorium earlier but no one listened and cooperated and sought higher yields each year instead,” he said.

He said the two-year moratorium will be good for the sea and the fisherfolks should be the first to support it because they rely on the sea for their livelihood.

He said most of the owners of the fish pens that polluted the bottom of the sea with commercial feeds are not natives of Bolinao and Anda who have been profiting off the natural resources of the towns, employing only small number of caretakers.

Celeste pointed out that in the process, many marginalized fishermen bear the brunt of the polluted seawater.

Bolinao Mayor Arnold Celeste had signed the Executive Order 16, Series of 2018 declaring a two-year moratorium on the operation of fish pens and cages in Barangay Luciente 2, Luna and Culang in Bolinao for the long overdue rehabilitation of the Caquiputan Channel.

The mayor said the number of fish pens and cages in the area had already been reduced after a series of fish kills in the past but more fish pens just kept resuming operations.

“Nag-umpisa kasi yan sa sobrang fishpens na nadagdagan at nadagdagan, kaya yan nagkakaroon ng fish kill,” he intoned.  (Nora Dominguez)

 

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