Fish pen operators and fisherfolks operating in Taal Lake appealed to the public to continue supporting fish caught in the region as it is safe for consumption despite the current restiveness of the Taal Volcano.
“The phreatic explosion doesn’t affect tilapia. The debris fell only within surrounding areas of the island while sulfur dioxide only affects plants. Fish do not consume ash from the volcano,” Nestor Natanauan, president of the Taal Lake Aquaculture Alliance Inc. (TLAAI), said in a statement.
Natanuan also assured the public Taal fisherfolk only harvest and sell fresh and live tilapia from the lake.
Natanauan said daily fish production from the 6,000 cages of TLAAI members is around 200 to 250 tons per day, excluding artisanal tilapia caught outside their cages as well as tawilis, maliputo, biya and other local species.
Meanwhile, food security group Tugon Kabuhayan said combined production of aquaculture and capture fisheries from Taal Lake could reach 100,000 metric tons per year of which 70 percent is consumed outside Batangas, mostly in Metro Manila and surrounding areas.
“Taal’s contribution to food security can’t be overemphasized. Thus, government must ensure that production and delivery isn’t hampered or threatened unnecessarily,” Asis Perez, the group’s convenor, said in a statement.
He added that government must avoid a similar situation last year when much of the fish produce from Taal Lake were either unsold or bought at very low prices due to the Department of Health’s previous debunked claim that fish caught in the lake was unsafe to eat due to the water’s high sulfur content. – Jed Macapagal
