FISHKILL AFTERMATH

AS BANGUS sales continue to be sluggish following the fishkill in Anda and Bolinao in early June, Dagupan City Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez has called for a continuous promotional campaign to persuade people that it is safe to eat bangus.

Fernandez, a bangus-producer herself, said there is a need to win back the confidence of the people to buy bangus, Dagupan’s most famous product.

The vice mayor said that last week, the price of bangus in the market went to as low as P45 per kilo due to low demand.

The normal selling price is P80 up to P120 per kilo.

Milkfish producers in Anda and Bolinao, located in the western part of Pangasinan, have also lamented the slow sales as they asked Governor Amado Espino Jr. last week to help promote bangus again.

Fernandez noted that some of the bulk buyers of bangus from other provinces have not returned for their usual purchases since the massive fishkill incident in spite of the fact that the fish kill was confined to the Caquipotan Channel between Anda and Bolinao.

 VIGILANCE

 The vice mayor, while expressing confidence that the milkfish industry will recover soon, said the city, particularly the city agriculture office, should continue to be vigilant against the entry of ‘botcha’ (double-dead) bangus into the Dagupan market, a central trading area.

During the recent fishkill, affected bangus were brought into the Dagupan market and vendors were caught applying dye or dyobos on the gills of the fish to make these look fresh.

“We should be very strict, otherwise all our efforts to promote our local bangus will go to naught,” said Fernandez.

ZONING

 Meanwhile, Fernandez also called on Councilors Alfie Fernandez, Jeslito Seen and Alvin Coquia to spearhead a city council review of the city’s zoning ordinance as she noted that fishponds, even in the protected areas of the city like Bonuan and Tambac, are now being back-filled for commercial purposes.

She decried the inconsistency and selective implementation of Mayor Benjamin Lim’s directive ordering the strict enforcement of a ban of backfilling of fishponds in protected areas.

Lately, there has been a noted rash of backfilling in the two barangays considered as protected areas reportedly permitted by the office of the city mayor.

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