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Fish kills slay demand even for safe fish in public markets


The spate of fish kills now plaguing Batangas and Pangasinan is also killing consumer demand for bangus and tilapia that come from unaffected places where the fish are alive and well. Fish retailers have tried baiting consumers with low prices – some at P45 per kilo in Metro Manila markets – but shoppers refuse to bite. Agriculture officials have also tried to assure the public by stressing that the fish kills affected only a fraction of the country’s fish supply. Some market vendors have even put up signs to show their fish come from places other than Batangas or Pangasinan, where fish kills have wiped out at least P135 million worth of fish harvests. Others also tried re-packaging the unsold fish, transforming them into stuffed milkfish or relyenong bangus, but still no buyers. "Eh ganyan nga ginawa namin, ni-relyeno na namin, [kaso] hindi nga mabili," remarked one fish vendor in an interview with "News to Go" on Friday. At least three people, including a child, have been reported hospitalized after eating fish believed to have come from the fish kill batches. One was in Quezon City, while two were in Pangasinan. Two towns in Pangasinan, namely Bolinao and Anda, were among the hardest hit by fish kill this past week, aside from Taal Lake in Batangas, where tons of rotting fish wash ashore and spread a nauseating stench throughout communities. Pangasinan, 195 kilometers northwest of Manila, supplies at least 70 to 90 metric tons (MT) of the fish sold daily in Metro Manila, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). Another 60 to 70 MT come from Batangas, about 94 kilometers south of Manila. Dagupan, a city in Pangasinan, is touted as the "Bangus Capital of the Philippines." According to a report by GMA News' "Unang Balita", prices for milk fish have plummeted to as low as 45 pesos per kilo in Metro Manila. Other vendors had to conspicuously display the names of fish they were selling and their respective origins, hoping to dispel fears that their merchandise came from fish kill-affected areas. Mixed with 'botcha' That “doubled-dead" or botcha fish have made the rounds of Metro Manila’s wet markets, as vendors try to make a killing by mixing the fish kill merchandise with fresh fish, didn't help with public perception. On Friday, more than 200 kilos of double-dead bangus were seized by the Quezon City Health Department in Commonwealth Market At least 400 kilos of "botchang bangus" were likewise seized by authorities in Balintawak Market on Thursday. The merchandise was traced directly to the fish kills in Pangasinan and Batangas. Authorities in Pangasinan have tightened security near the affected towns to keep double-dead fish from reaching consumers. In the province’s Bolinao Public Market, authorities have seized milkfish that supposedly came from fish kills and are being sold at P15 per kilo. Unaffected supply The BFAR, meanwhile, downplayed the effects of the fish kills on the total fish supply in the country, saying only a fraction of the supply was affected. In a statement on Wednesday, BFAR said the losses to total production brought by the fish kill amounted to only 0.015 percent. BFAR added that the target fish production for the year is 5.36 million metric tons (MT) whereas the disaster has so far wiped out only 1,800 MT. The bureau estimated that as of Friday total losses from the fish kills now amount to P98 million in Batangas, and P37 million in Pangasinan. It has been estimated that the damage sustained by Batangas so far is P98 million, and P37 million for Pangasinan. In an interview with GMA News Online, BFAR assistant director Gil Adora said that in the next two months, the effects of the fish kill will not be felt because there are a lot of fish pond owners who harvested fish in advance and placed the catch in cold storage. "In the event na kulangin ang supply, i-mo-mobilize natin ang forces natin from Visayas and Mindanao to augment the supply. Hindi tayo magkakaroon ng shortage," Adora said. "Paanong magiging krisis 'yan, nasa personal perception lang iyan ng mga customers. Naipapaliwanag naman natin na there are distinguishing characteristics of the supply na nanggaling sa fish kill," he added. As things stand now, Adora said the impact of the fish kills on the total bangus output remains at less than 1 percent, Adora said. "It's very negligible pa. Sa Region 4, kung ikukumpara sa target production of the region, the supply affected by the disaster is only 0.33 percent for the full year," he stressed. The BFAR official said that the bureau is not worried about disruptions in the milkfish supply chain and that they will try to recover the loss from the fish kill within next five months. -ERL/VS/ HS, GMA News

Tags: fishkill
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