Bangus fish kill also hits Pangasinan

A massive fish kill has not only hit Taal Lake in Batangas but also the waters of Bolinao and Anda in Pangasinan, reported GMA News TV’s “Balitanghali" on Tuesday. At least 10,000 metric tons worth of bangus or milkfish have been floating dead in various fish pens for the past three days, according to the newscast. This amounts to some P3 million worth of losses for the affected fish farms. In Bolinao’s Barangay Catubig, GMA News witnessed fishermen and workers of fish dealers hastening to harvest and salvage the floating bangus carcasses with the intent of selling them. The fishermen, workers, and dealers claimed that the bangus they were collecting were part of an early harvest.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Fish dealer Inamar Ignacio asserted that the fish her workers were collecting belonged to a batch that had been harvested earlier and was thus fit for consumption. She said that they themselves had, in fact, consumed some of the fish. “Hindi namin bibilhin ‘yung ‘di puwede ibenta. Kinakain din namin, eh," she said. Water-sampling tests are ongoing in Anda, with the local government testing for oxygen content in water, according to the television report. Five milliliters worth of oxygen content must be present in each liter of water, or else fish kill is inevitable. The Anda Agriculture Office said this is what happened — oxygen levels dipped below the minimum threshold and killed the massive numbers of dead fish. “Bumaba ‘yung oxygen. Mataas ang temperature ng tubig, dahil mahaba nga ‘yung tag-init. Tsaka walang hangin. ‘Yun ‘yung naging dahilan," explained Presciliano Onzaga, a fishery extension worker of the Anda Agriculture Office. — AY/PE/VS, GMA News