Another fishkill threat up in Western Panngasinan
WITH neap tide expected on February 26-28 – aggravated by the current presence of the Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB), commonly known as red tide – in some parts of western Pangasinan, the fishing communities here are in danger of suffering another fishkill.
At risk are the coastal towns Bani and Bolinao and the island municipality of Anda.
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center, warned of the coming neap tide, an occurrence wherein water in rivers near the sea come to an almost standstill.
This could lead to the depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water and kill the fish in the area.
Rosario, speaking during the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas forum on Thursday, said local government officials in western Pangasinan have been advised to work with their fish farmers to save the potential harvest.
Rosario said that based on studies by the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI), which maintains a marine laboratory in Bolinao, HAB is sometimes associated with fishkill.
In the 2002 major fishkill episode in Anda and Bolinao, UPMSI pointed to HAB as one of the contributing factors.
The first occurrence of HAB in Anda, Bani and Bolinao was recorded in 2002 and the red tide problem has since been experienced every summer when the water salinity is high.
Rosario noted that the coastal area in Wawa, Bani where the HAB episode this year started is near a salt farm.
There are 22 areas in the Philippines where HAB is occurring yearly, he said, adding that the nearest area in Pangasinan where the microorganism may have come from is Masinloc, Zambales, which experienced its first red tide in 1998.
HAB first appeared in the Philippines in the coastal area of Eastern Samar in 1983, where many people died due to ingestion of shellfish infected by the microorganism.
Rosario said there is still no known solution to stopping HAB, and fish farmers will just have to refrain from harvesting shellfish until the episode is over.
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