Govt to help improve Taal Lake oxygen levels

To improve oxygen levels in fish kill-stricken Taal Lake, government will distribute at least 50 water pumps to fish cage owners in Batangas, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said Thursday. In a statement, Alcala said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is also ready to distribute over a million milkfish and tilapia fingerlings to affected fish cage owners in Batangas and Pangasinan. On the sidelines of the 60th anniversary of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management in Quezon City, Alcala said the BFAR will hold a consultative meeting in Batangas next week to discuss with stakeholders sustainable measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future. “What we need are permanent solutions. We can’t allow the same practices to go on after this unfortunate incident," Alcala said. Meanwhile, newly-appointed BFAR national director Asis Perez said the agency is monitoring daily the situation in Taal Lake as well as in the towns of Anda and Bolinao and Pangasinan. Perez noted that BFAR had been issuing regular advisories even before the fish kill phenomenon started. The fish kill in Batangas and Pangasinan have caused at least P115.536 million in damages to fish pen operators so far, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Thursday. — PE/VS, GMA News