BOLINAO—To ensure that the town will be fish pen-free by January 2019, the town mayor here has ordered the dismantling of all fish pens in its coastal waters by the end of December.

Mayor Arnold Celeste said the remaining 179 fish pens must be dismantled this month based on an earlier agreement made with fish pen operators.

“By December 31, no more fish pens in Bolinao. They (fish pen operators) must already harvest their bangus stocks,” Celeste said. “This is already their final warning,” he intoned.

He said the costs for the dismantling operations involving pulling out of bamboos and nets will be shouldered fully by the fish pen operators.

Once the coastal waters are free of fish pens, he said there will be designated areas where fish cages will be allowed.

He said the volume of production of bangus will not see a reduction after the dismantling of the fish pens because bangus are better raised in fish cages.

“We have to remove the fish pens otherwise we will suffer another fish kill,” he said.

 In May this year, a fish kill affected Barangays Luciente II, Luna and Culang.

Celeste said fish pens obstruct the flow of water and this causes pollution because  unconsumed decaying fish feeds settle at the bottom of the sea.

 The town’s average annual production per unit of fish cage is 40 metric tons of bangus.

From more than 1,000 fish structures in Bolinao, the number was reduced to 461 only composed of 282 fish cages and 179 fish pens.

The removal of fish pens is part of cleaning the coastal waters of Bolinao, Celeste said.

Bangus harvested in Bolinao are primarily brought to Metro Manila for trading. (PhilStar Wire Service)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments