Cold days bane to bangus industry
THE Siberian cold wind blowing from dawn to morning, forcing the temperature to dip to as low as 11 degrees centigrade in Baguio at one time, is a bane to the bangus industry in Dagupan City and other parts of Pangasinan
City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina explained that when it is cold, milkfish being raised in captivity lose their appetite and eat less than normal, stunting their growth.
“Anticipating this, we advised local fish pond owners as early as the second week of December to reduce the volume of feeds they give to the fish,” Molina said.
She added that fishpond owners have been advised to give minimal feeds early in the morning when it is still cold and increase the volume when the sun is up.
Further, at this time of the year when the heat from the sun is felt only beginning mid-morning, there is less dissolved oxygen in the water at dawn and in the early morning, thus there is no need to give much feed to the fish.
Lack of dissolved oxygen in the water could result in fish kill as the feeds that drop at the bottom can cause pollution in the water.
“In this situation, we told fish pond owners to feed their fish only sparingly as the feeds that are not consumed will drop in the bottom of fishponds which can aggravate to the thinning of the volume of dissolved oxygen in the water,” she said.
With milkfish growing slowly this season, supply is less and pushes market price higher at P108 to P109 per kilo from the usual P98 to 99 per kilo.
During the peak season of the yuletide season when demand for bangus was at its highest, prices for a few hours went up to as high P130 per kilo for wholesale and P1450 for retail. (LVM)
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