ANDA–They earn their keep from nature but they do not care to nurture the environment that sustains them.

This was the observation of Dr. Westly Rosario, executive director of the National Fisheries Research Institute (NFRDI) who headed a team that went to Anda from Dagupan by speedboat last June 16 to assess the results of the fishkill that occurred there June 10-15.

Rosario, concurrent chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC), said that as of June 16, no fish inside the fish cages and pens survived.

He blamed the fishkill on the unsustainable operations of floating fish cages and pens in the Caquiputan Channel, scene of the biggest ever fishkill in 2002 when producers suffered losses that reached P500 million.

However, despite lessons provided by the recent fishkill, fish farmers still insisted on overstocking their floating fish cages and pens, resulting in another massive fishkill.

He said based on the reading registered on the sophisticated precision instruments acquired from the United States, the dissolved oxygen level of the water in the surface as well as the bottom portion of the Caquiputan Channel was still way, way below the desired level of 4 parts per million (ppm).

Rosario‘s team took samples of the water at the Caquiputan channel to determine if the water was already safe for fish farmers to re-stock their cages and pens.

However, he and his team, which included newsmen who accompanied him in that trip, saw that some operators have already started re-stocking fingerlings in their pens in complete disregard of the warnings issued by the team.

As of June 16, some fish farmers were still harvesting their milkfish in the northern part of the Caquiputan channel, especially in Luna, Bolinao, while several in Awag, Anda have started re-stocking their pens.

Rosario said that unless the fish farmers and operators comply with proper fish growing practices and continue to be more environmentally-friendly, the fishkill will soon be repeated.

He said the color of the water of the Caquiputan Channel indicates that the severe pollution caused by heavy nutrients settled at the bottom of the water.

Rosario also said that weeks before the massive fishkill, the people of Anda and Bolinao were already warned of the impending disaster by officials of BFAR and scientists from Norway and University of the Philippine Marine Science Institute (UPMSI).

They presented the results of a one year study on the aqua-marine situation in some fish producing areas in the country, including those in Western Pangasinan.

But the fish farmers ignored the warning even after Anda Mayor Nestor Pulido personally appealed to them to cease and desist in their unabated practice of over-stocking.

Rosario recalled that the fishkill was preceded by a neap tide at the Caquiputan Channel on July 11, when the water in the surface remained still.

He said although neap tide was influenced by the face of the moon, the disaster could have been averted had the free flow of water along the Caquiputan Channel not been impeded by the big number of cages and pens in the river.

The floating fish cages and pens are owned by transient businessmen who made local fish farmers merely as their caretakers.

At the same time, Rosario noted that oyster props made of bamboo poles, were also obstructing navigation in the waters between Alaminos and Anda.

A report, however, said that the oysters’ props, owned by businessmen who had applied for fisheries lease agreements with the BFAR, were erected as markers for the area they have applied for. —LM

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