THOSE familiar with the fishing industry know that tilapia harvested from Taal Lake in Batangas is more tasty and palatable than that from nearby Laguna de Bay. True or not, the reality is Taal Lake is a lot less polluted than the huge lake in Laguna-Rizal, going by the number of factories, business establishments and households dotting these lakes.
It is thus both sad and lamentable to hear that 31 tons of tilapia were lost to fish kill in Agoncillo, Batangas, a tragic blow to fish cage operators and businessmen in the area, that occurred only a couple of days during the first week of August.
The Municipal Agriculture Office headed by municipal agriculturist Olive Mirasol reported that 43 fish cages of Barangay Banyaga and Barangay Bilibinwang were affected by the fish kill that hit a portion of Taal Lake.
In Banyaga, around 22 tons of fish died while Bilibinwang lost nine tons of tilapia.
‘Losing tons of fish during a looming global food crisis is the last thing that the DA would want to happen, not while the President himself is at the helm of the department.’
Mirasol estimated that the fish kill damage will reach P3 million. Among the dead fish were newly-hatched tilapia fingerlings, she said. This is such a great loss because fingerlings can easily turn into harvestable sizes in just a couple of weeks.
According to Mirasol, the fish kill was caused by the decrease in dissolved oxygen levels in the lake. Like humans, fish must have oxygen intake to live and grow, so dissolved oxygen (DO) is a critical environmental indicator in aquaculture. Most dissolved oxygen is produced by algae and aquatic plants through photosynthesis. Depleted DO is the leading cause of fish kills. Low dissolved oxygen saturation can be the result of a host of factors such as high water temperature, atmospheric conditions, stratification and pond turnover, and harmful algal blooms.
The town agriculturist noted that most fish kills occur as a result of fluctuations in the natural environment, with the most common cause being algal blooms, water quality issues such as low dissolved oxygen and production of unwanted toxins due to pollution.
The Department of Agriculture headed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. should realize the urgency of the fish kill problem in Agoncillo, Batangas and act accordingly before it becomes widespread in the whole of Taal Lake.
Losing tons of fish during a looming global food crisis is the last thing that the DA would want to happen, not while the President himself is at the helm of the department.
