Pangasinan now red tide-free
ALL coastal areas of Pangasinan have been declared free from red tide, also known as the Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB).
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) lifted on April 3 the shellfish ban that was previously declared in Anda, Bolinao and Alaminos City.
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the BFAR-National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center, said the lifting of the ban came after three successive laboratory tests on samples of shellfishes from the three areas showed negative of red tide.
Rosario said the lifting of the ban means that the gathering, transporting, selling and eating of shellfishes, such as oysters, mussels and other bivalves, as well as small shrimps called alamang are no longer prohibited.
Fish farmers from the three areas hailed the lifting, which came more than a month after the shellfish ban was first lifted in barangay Wawa, Bani on Feruary 29.
Wawa was the first coastal area in Pangasinan hit by red tide on January 27. Two weeks later, the coastal areas of Anda and Bolinao followed, with Alaminos City coming another week later.
Red tide microorganism is a tiny plankton that usually bloom during summer when there is sufficient sunlight and when there is high salinity in the water.
Rosario said there is no guarantee that red tide will not recur in summer next year as the seeds of red ride remain in the water and will resurface again once a high water salinity exists.
He advised the public not to throw their wastes into the rivers that would eventually end up in the sea and form as nutrients spawning the growth of tiny planktons, including red tide.
Rosario noted that other red-tide affected areas in other parts of the country suffer for many months, sometimes year-round.
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