FISH growers in Sitio Talaib in Calmay and Sitio Tocok in Lucao denied they suffered a fish kill at the height of the monsoon rains that inundated many parts of the city as published on August 20 in a national daily.

In an interview, fishermen Roland Vinoya and Rosemarie Gonzales, from Talaib, Calmay; and Ricardo Jose and Nelia Perez, from Sitio Tocok, Lucao, were one in their claim that no fish kill occurred in their areas.

They attributed the deaths of several pieces of bangus to the murky, polluted water that flowed to the city’s rivers. “Ang maaring dahilan kung bakit napo-polute ang tubig sa ilog ay dahil sa mga remnants ng fertilizers mula sa bukid na inaagos ng baha dahil sa ilang araw na pag-ulan,” said Gonzales.

“If more than P30 million worth of lapu-lapu and malaga perished in the fishponds due to the polluted water as was reported, then why were there no reports on bangus fish kill. This is very unlikely,” said City Agriculture Officer Emma J. Molina.

Mayor Belen T. Fernandez added that a fish kill is already unlikely to happen in the city because it has instituted strict measures to protect the city’s aquatic resources.

The city efforts have prevented recurrence of fish kill in the city, the last of which was in 2014.

She cited the Task Force Bantay Ilog’s daily operations that continuously monitor presence of illegal fish pens and blast fishing operations.

To date, it has demolished 508 illegal fish pens covering an estimated area of 7.8 hectares since July 2013.

The dismantling of illegal fish pens, she said, prevented an estimated 1.5 million bags of feeds and residuals from being unloaded into the water polluting the city’s rivers.

Aside from enforcing a “no-fish-pen policy”, the city will soon implement plastic, debris and fishnet recovery program to further minimize pollution in the city’s rivers. (JCB_CIO)

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