Fish pens are back in Dagupan rivers
CITY HALL DENIES, NIFTDC CONFIRMS
ONLY people pretending to be blind, will say there are no more fish pens in the waters of Dagupan City.
No less than Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Center (NIFTDC) based in the city, confirmed that fish pens have returned as can be readily seen starting from the mouth of the Sabangan River up to the boundary of Dagupan and Binmaley.
The office of the city mayor, however, continues to deny the existence of fish pens through its spokespersons speaking in blocktime radio programs in DWCM Aksyon Radio and DZRD Sonshine Radio paid for by the city hall.
Rosario said he noticed the mushrooming of fish pens when he and technicians inspected the rivers for water quality level as the waters have been stagnant due to a neap tide that may lead into another fishkill.
Rosario said during the KBP Forum last Thursday that they are actually getting anxious that the proliferation of fish pens could further lead into another fishkill, similar to what happened a few years ago.
He said he and his men observed that the new fish pens are not only located from Sabangan upward but also in some remote interior barangays.
“It is not for us to say that these are illegal structures but it’s easy to determine if the bamboos are new or not,” he said.
Rosario warned that Dagupan’s rivers could suffer the same situation in the water of the Kakiputan Channel between Anda and Bolinao that has turned reddish because of nutrient overload if fish pens continue to proliferate again.
An impending fishkill is expected in Bolinao and Anda because of the deteriorating quality of the water at the Kakiputan Channel caused by rotting feeds that have accumulated at the bottom of the water.
Many of the fish pens located along the Calmay River are reportedly owned by affluent people from Binmaley town with connections to the city government.
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